Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Division of Arctic Ecology, The Polar Environmental Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
Ecology. 2009 Nov;90(11):3197-208. doi: 10.1890/08-1778.1.
The purpose of the present study was to inspect the response of the Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) to an experimental manipulation of the investment needed to successfully raise an offspring. We achieved this by replacing an old offspring with a younger chick, and vice versa, thereby prolonging and shortening the chick-rearing period. To examine any costs of reproduction we then followed the breeding success, the recruitment of young to the population, and the survival of parents for 11 years following the manipulation. Parents in the prolonged and shortened category had a lower breeding success than controls mainly because parents deserted their chick shortly after swapping. Among those that raised their chick, the age and body mass of foster chicks at fledging were the same in all three categories even though the parents had raised chicks for different lengths of time. The recruitment of young to the breeding population was high and independent of treatment. Likewise, the survival of adults was independent of treatment. For the 11 years after the experiment, however, the resighting rate of those that deserted their chick was clearly lower than among those that accepted their foster chick. For parents that raised their foster chick, the survival to the following year was positively related to their body mass. The results support the hypothesis that puffins have a highly flexible parental investment, which they adjust according to their own individual quality and the survival prospects of the chick.
本研究的目的是观察大西洋海鹦（Fratercula arctica）对成功育雏所需投资的实验操作的反应。我们通过用年轻的雏鸟替换旧的雏鸟，或者相反，从而延长和缩短育雏期来实现这一目标。为了研究任何繁殖成本，我们随后跟踪了繁殖成功率、年轻人向种群的补充情况以及父母在操纵后的 11 年的存活率。在延长和缩短类别中的父母的繁殖成功率低于对照组，主要是因为父母在换鸟后不久就抛弃了他们的雏鸟。在那些抚养他们的雏鸟的父母中，代养雏鸟的年龄和体重在所有三个类别中都是相同的，尽管父母抚养雏鸟的时间不同。年轻人向繁殖种群的补充率很高，与处理无关。同样，成年人的存活率也与处理无关。然而，在实验后的 11 年里，那些抛弃雏鸟的海鹦的再发现率明显低于那些接受代养雏鸟的海鹦。对于那些抚养代养雏鸟的父母来说，第二年的存活率与他们的体重呈正相关。研究结果支持这样一种假设，即海鹦具有高度灵活的亲代投资，它们会根据自己的个体质量和雏鸟的生存前景来调整亲代投资。
