Compensatory and additive helper effects in the cooperatively breeding Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis).

ABSTRACT: In cooperatively breeding species, care provided by helpers may affect the dominant breeders' investment trade-offs between current and future reproduction. By negatively compensating for such additional care, breeders can reduce costs of reproduction and improve their own chances of survival. Alternatively, helper care can be additive to that of dominants, increasing the fledging fitness of the current brood. However, the influence helpers have on brood care may be affected by group size and territory quality. Therefore, the impact of helping needs to be disentangled from other factors determining offspring investment before conclusive inferences about the effect of help on additive and compensatory care can be made. We used 20 years of provisioning data to investigate the effect of helpi

SUBMITTER: van Boheemen LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6405499 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature