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No evidence of genetic benefits from extra-pair fertilisations in female sand martins (Riparia riparia)

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Abstract

Genetic parentage studies of socially monogamous birds reveal a widespread prevalence of extra-pair paternity. Variation in extra-pair paternity among individuals may depend on how different individuals benefit from extra-pair fertilisations and on the opportunity to pursue extra-pair copulations. A long-term study of sand martins (Riparia riparia) in Hungary allowed us to examine patterns of extra-pair fertilisations in a large colony of over 3,000 breeding pairs with many known age individuals. We used multi-locus DNA fingerprinting to determine whether extra-pair fertilisations occur when females are paired to (1) presumably low quality mates, or (2) genetically similar or dissimilar mates, and whether extra-pair fertilisations result in offspring of higher quality. Extra-paternal young were found in 38% of 47 broods and comprised 19% of 190 offspring. Males that lost paternity did not differ significantly from others in age or body condition. Social mates of broods containing extra-pair offspring did not differ in genetic similarity from pairs without extra-pair offspring. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in body condition between extra-pair young and their maternal half-siblings. We were unable to assign paternity and therefore cannot exclude the possibility that extra-pair males differed from the within-pair males they cuckolded, in age, body condition or genetic similarity with the female. We found a positive relationship between paternity losses and breeding density, suggesting that low breeding density may constrain opportunities for seeking extra-pair copulations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jan Lifjeld, Johan Wallander, Erwin Nemeth and two anonymous referees for constructive comments on the manuscript. Tibor Szép was supported by OTKA Grants T29853 and T42879. We also thank the Nyíregyháza Chapter of the MME/BirdLife Hungary for providing tools for the field work, and Noémi Szállassy, Béla Habarics and volunteers of the MME/BirdLife Hungary for assistance in the survey and ringing work. Finally, a very big thank you to Gaute Grønstøl for fruitful discussions and help with the manuscript. Collection of blood samples adhered to the national legal requirements for research with animals (permit number: Hungary, HNP/1873-2/2002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Savoyenstrasse 1a, Vienna, 1160, Austria

    Jakob Augustin, Donald Blomqvist & Richard H. Wagner

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, Gothenburg, 405 30, Sweden

    Donald Blomqvist

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Nyíregyháza, Nyíregyháza, 4401, Hungary

    Tibor Szép

  4. Department of Systematics and Ecology, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, 400006, Romania

    Zoltán D. Szabó

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  1. Jakob Augustin
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Correspondence to Jakob Augustin.

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Communicated by M. Wink.

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Augustin, J., Blomqvist, D., Szép, T. et al. No evidence of genetic benefits from extra-pair fertilisations in female sand martins (Riparia riparia). J Ornithol 148, 189–198 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-006-0119-8

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