Multiple benefits of alloparental care in a fluctuating environment.

ABSTRACT: Although cooperatively breeding vertebrates occur disproportionately in unpredictable environments, the underlying mechanism shaping this biogeographic pattern remains unclear. Cooperative breeding may buffer against harsh conditions (hard life hypothesis), or additionally allow for sustained breeding under benign conditions (temporal variability hypothesis). To distinguish between the hard life and temporal variability hypotheses, we investigated whether the number of alloparents at a nest increased reproductive success or load-lightening in superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus), and whether these two types of benefits varied in harsh and benign years. We found that mothers experienced both types of benefits consistent with the temporal variability hypothesis, as larger continge

SUBMITTER: Guindre-Parker S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5830800 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature