Inclusive fitness consequences of dispersal decisions in a cooperatively breeding bird, the long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus).

ABSTRACT: Natal dispersal is a demographic trait with profound evolutionary, ecological, and behavioral consequences. However, our understanding of the adaptive value of dispersal patterns is severely hampered by the difficulty of measuring the relative fitness consequences of alternative dispersal strategies in natural populations. This is especially true in social species, in which natal philopatry allows kin selection to operate, so direct and indirect components of inclusive fitness have to be considered when evaluating selection on dispersal. Here, we use lifetime reproductive success data from a long-term study of a cooperative breeder, the long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus, to quantify the direct and indirect components of inclusive fitness. We show that dispersal has a negative effe

SUBMITTER: Green JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6255206 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature