Publication
Title
Hatching asynchrony aggravates inbreeding depression in a songbird (**Serinus canaria**) : an inbreedingenvironment interaction
Author
Abstract
Understanding how the intensity of inbreeding depression is influenced by stressful environmental conditions is an important area of enquiry in various fields of biology. In birds, environmental stress during early development is often related to hatching asynchrony; differences in age, and thus size, impose a gradient in conditions ranging from benign (first hatched chick) to harsh (last hatched chick). Here, we compared the effect of hatching order on growth rate in inbred (parents are full siblings) and outbred (parents are unrelated) canary chicks (Serinus canaria). We found that inbreeding depression was more severe under more stressful conditions, being most evident in later hatched chicks. Thus, consideration of inbreeding-environment interactions is of vital importance for our understanding of the biological significance of inbreeding depression and hatching asynchrony. The latter is particularly relevant given that hatching asynchrony is a widespread phenomenon, occurring in many bird species. The exact causes of the observed inbreeding-environment interaction are as yet unknown, but may be related to a decrease in maternal investment in egg contents with laying position (i.e. prehatching environment), or to performance of the chicks during sibling competition and/or their resilience to food shortage (i.e. posthatching environment).
Language
English
Source (journal)
Evolution. - Lancaster, Pa
Publication
Lancaster, Pa : 2015
ISSN
0014-3820
DOI
10.1111/EVO.12625
Volume/pages
69 :4 (2015) , p. 1063-1068
ISI
000353236000019
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
A quantitative genetic approach to study the mechanisms and functions of bird song.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 28.07.2015
Last edited 09.10.2023
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