From this action, females could benefit if aggression signals the quality of the territory or that of the individual (Berglund et al. Females can rely on traits displayed during territorial aggression by eavesdropping on male-male confrontations and either prefer or avoid more aggressive males (Otter et al. Second, aggression may be a determinant of pairing success as well. Furthermore, females, when considering potential mates, can also decide based on territory quality (Alatalo et al. The timing of breeding and nest-site quality are known to have crucial importance to reproductive success, especially in seasonally breeding species (Bensch and Hasselquist 1991 Ens et al. 2013), and they defend it more efficiently from rival males (Yasukawa 1979). Accordingly, more aggressive males would occupy territories faster and of higher quality (Fretwell and Calver 1970 Robinson and Terborgh 1995 Duckworth 2006 Rosvall 2008, 2011 Scales et al. ![]() First, aggression may determine settlement patterns at the beginning of the breeding season. If so, patterns of balancing the investment in current reproductive success and future survival may correlate with the expression of aggression.Īggression could influence reproductive success in several ways. Furthermore, the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis explicitly proposes that individual-specific behaviours are parts of the fast-slow life-history (or life-style, if we are speaking of within-population patterns) continuum (Réale et al. Because of its fundamental role in sexual selection, aggression is a particularly relevant behavioural trait for fitness and has either direct or indirect consequences for both reproductive success and survival of the individuals. 2011, Cain and Ketterson 2012 eastern bluebird ( Sialia sialis), Burtka and Grindstaff 2013, Harris and Siefferman 2014 tree swallow ( Tachycineta bicolor), Rosvall 2008, Betini and Norris 2012 western bluebird ( Sialia mexicana), Duckworth 2006 wood warbler ( Phylloscopus sibilatrix), Szymkowiak and Kuczyński 2017). 2006 dark-eyed junco ( Junco hyemalis), Cain et al. In many songbird species that defend breeding or foraging sites, aggression has been found to be an individual-specific trait, repeatable within individuals during a single or over multiple breeding seasons (collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis), Garamszegi et al. Aggression is one of the most widespread behavioural traits in the animal kingdom. In the case of territorial aggression, the stake is a monopolisable area, which should be defended from same-sex and advertised to opposite-sex individuals. Our study shows that aggressive behaviour can be a fitness-related trait, and to understand its role in determining fitness, age should be taken into account.īehaviours that are directed toward conspecifics involving elements that can intimidate or harm the opponent and are performed with the goal of ensuring the access and maintenance of limited resources (such as space, sexual partner and food) are called aggression (Maynard Smith et al. In contrast, if adult males suffer from higher physiological costs, a lower level of aggression may be more advantageous for them. Subadult males may be socially inexperienced, so they should be more aggressive to be successful. This finding is in harmony with our general observation that subadult collared flycatcher males behave more aggressively than adult males when confronted with a conspecific intruder. ![]() Among subadult males, more aggressive individuals had higher chances to return, while among adult males, less aggressive ones did so. However, the probability of a male to return in the next year was significantly related to aggression in an age-dependent manner. Aggression did not predict pairing and breeding performances. Earlier arriving and older males had a higher probability to establish pair-bond, and males that started to breed earlier fledged more young. We estimated the fitness of males based on their pairing success, breeding output and survival to next year. We quantified the aggression of males during nest-site defence by conducting simulated territorial intrusions in the courtship period. Here, we explored the relationship between aggression and fitness in a long-term database collected in a wild population of the collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis). Thereby, it is expected to have consequences for fitness. Aggressive behaviour plays a fundamental role in the distribution of limiting resources.
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