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Cross-fostering mismatches parent-offspring behaviors but this does not entail costs to family life

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Early family life is characterized by a close interaction between parents and their offspring. This needs to be disentangled when studying the ontogeny and evolution of a given behaviore.g. via cross-fostering. But cross-fostering may change the expression of parent and offspring behaviors as they may respond to the novel environment. Furthermore, parent and offspring traits are potentially co-adjusted and cross-fostering may, therefore, introduce a costly mismatch. To study such consequences of cross-fostering, we created an experimental group (EG) of broods raised by foster parents from day 3 onwards and a control group of broods raised by their biological parents throughout. We tested offspring begging intensity in all broods and the provisioning of the EG-parents only, both on day 3 just before cross-fostering and then again on day 5. Costs were estimated in terms of growth and survival (offspring costs) and mass of a second clutch (parental costs). Offspring begging intensity varied with age, but this change was neither affected by cross-fostering per se nor by small-scale differences in parental provisioning between biological and foster parents. Similarly, the change in parental provisioning with offspring age among the EG-parents was not affected by the difference in begging between biological and foster nestlings. This lack in behavioral plasticity in response to cross-fostering did not entail costs to neither of the parties. Our results suggest a rather predetermined pattern of behavioral expression, which may be shaped by limits and costs to plasticity and/or an (apparent) lack of costs of a behavioral mismatch.
Journal: Behavioral ecology and sociobiology
ISSN: 0340-5443
Volume: 68
Pages: 1019 - 1028
Publication year:2014
Keywords:A1 Journal article
BOF-keylabel:yes
BOF-publication weight:6
CSS-citation score:1
Authors from:Higher Education
Accessibility:Closed