Dept of Zoology, Australian National University, GPO Box 4, Canberra City, ACT 2601 Australia.
Trends Ecol Evol. 1990 Dec;5(12):403-7. doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(90)90024-8.
In cooperatively breeding birds, individuals that appear capable of reproducing on their own may instead assist others with their breeding efforts. Research into avian cooperative breeding has attempted to reconcile the apparent altruism of this behaviour with maximization of inclusive fitness. Most explanations of cooperative breeding have suggested that philopatry is enforced by ecological constraints, such as a shortage of resources critical to breeding. Non-dispersers may then benefit both directly and indirectly from contributing at the nest. Recent research has shown that such benefits may be sufficient to promote philopatry, without the need for ecological constraints, and emphasizes that consideration of both costs and benefits of philopatry is essential for a comprehensive approach to the problem. The growing body of data from long-term studies of different species should combine with an improved phylogenetic perspective on cooperative breeding, to provide a useful base for future comparative analyses and experimentation.
在合作繁殖的鸟类中，那些看起来有能力自行繁殖的个体可能会转而帮助其他个体进行繁殖。对鸟类合作繁殖的研究试图调和这种行为的明显利他主义与包容性适合度最大化之间的矛盾。大多数关于合作繁殖的解释表明，亲缘关系的维持是由生态限制所决定的，例如繁殖关键资源的短缺。因此，不扩散者可能会直接和间接地从筑巢中受益。最近的研究表明，这些好处足以促进亲缘关系的维持，而不需要生态限制，并强调在解决这个问题时，必须同时考虑亲缘关系维持的成本和收益。来自不同物种的长期研究的不断增加的数据，应该与合作繁殖的改进系统发育观点相结合，为未来的比较分析和实验提供有用的基础。
