Lewis Sue, Roberts Gilbert, Harris Mike P, Prigmore Carina, Wanless Sarah
School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK.
Biol Lett. 2007 Aug 22;3(4):386-9. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0258.
Altruism and selfishness are fundamental characteristics of human and animal societies. Among colonial biparental species, breeding outcome depends on interactions between mates and neighbours. However, the relationships between cooperation within and among partnerships and fitness have not been fully investigated. We show that in the highly colonial common guillemot (Uria aalge), altruistic behaviour (allopreening) towards a mate was positively related to long-term fitness, whereas allopreening a neighbour was related to current fitness. Turnover is much lower within than between pairs, so our results suggest that allopreening within pairs generates fitness returns at longer timescales than between pairs. Allopreening not only removes ectoparasites and maintains plumage condition, but may also have important social functions. We found a negative relationship between fight rate and allopreen rate between breeding neighbours, with nests exhibiting low breeding success having a higher frequency of fights with neighbours. We also found evidence for reciprocity in allopreening. Thus, allopreening may function as a reciprocal stress reducer, to decrease the likelihood of fights and associated breeding failure. We suggest that altruistic behaviour has long-term benefits for the survival of the offspring when living in a crowded neighbourhood.
利他主义和自私是人类社会和动物社会的基本特征。在群居双亲物种中，繁殖结果取决于配偶之间以及与邻居之间的互动。然而，伙伴关系内部和之间的合作与适应性之间的关系尚未得到充分研究。我们发现，在高度群居的普通海鸠（海鸠属）中，对配偶的利他行为（相互梳理羽毛）与长期适应性呈正相关，而对邻居进行相互梳理羽毛则与当前适应性相关。配对内部的更替率远低于配对之间，因此我们的结果表明，配对内部的相互梳理羽毛在比配对之间更长的时间尺度上产生适应性回报。相互梳理羽毛不仅可以去除体外寄生虫并保持羽毛状况，还可能具有重要的社会功能。我们发现繁殖邻居之间的争斗率与相互梳理羽毛率呈负相关，繁殖成功率低的巢穴与邻居争斗的频率更高。我们还发现了相互梳理羽毛中互惠行为的证据。因此，相互梳理羽毛可能起到相互减轻压力的作用，以降低争斗及相关繁殖失败的可能性。我们认为，在拥挤的邻里环境中生活时，利他行为对后代的生存具有长期益处。
