Breeding site fidelity is lower in polygamous shorebirds and male-biased in monogamous species.

ABSTRACT: Sex-bias in breeding dispersal is considered the norm in many taxa, and the magnitude and direction of such sex-bias is expected to correlate with the social mating system. We used local return rates in shorebirds as an index of breeding site fidelity, and hence as an estimate of the propensity for breeding dispersal, and tested whether variation in site fidelity and in sex-bias in site fidelity relates to the mating system. Among 111 populations of 49 species, annual return rates to a breeding site varied between 0% and 100%. After controlling for body size (linked to survival) and other confounding factors, monogamous species showed higher breeding site fidelity compared with polyandrous and polygynous species. Overall, there was a strong male bias in return rates, but the sex-bias in re

SUBMITTER: Kwon E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9113309 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature