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Related Concept Videos

Inclusive Fitness00:57

Inclusive Fitness

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Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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Symbiosis00:58

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Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...
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Hybrid Zones02:29

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Hybrid zones are narrow regions where two closely related species interact, mate, and produce hybrids. Relative to either parent species, hybrids may possess distinct phenotypic or genetic differences that impact their survival and reproductive success. The genetic variances introduced by hybridization influence species diversity and speciation processes within the hybrid zone.
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Energy Budgets00:51

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Organisms must balance energy intake with the energy required for growth, maintenance and reproduction. These trade-offs result in a variety of survivorship and reproductive strategies, including semelparity and iteroparity. Semelparous species, like annual plants, have only one reproductive episode in their lifetimes and consequently have short lifespans. Iteroparous species, by contrast, have many reproductive events during their lifetimes but have relatively few offspring. These two...
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Mate Choice01:20

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Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
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Methods for Rearing the Parasitoid Ganaspis brasiliensis, a Promising Biological Control Agent for the Invasive Drosophila suzukii
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Helping Relatives Survive and Reproduce: Inclusive Fitness and Reproductive Value in Brood Parasitism.

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    Conspecific brood parasitism can benefit hosts in waterfowl. When hosts help related parasitic females, their inclusive fitness increases, sometimes making parasitism advantageous.

    Keywords:
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    Area of Science:

    • Evolutionary Biology
    • Behavioral Ecology

    Background:

    • Costly aid can improve a relative's fitness and the donor's inclusive fitness.
    • Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) involves females laying eggs in nests of conspecifics.
    • In CBP, parasite females lay eggs in host nests, with hosts caring for all offspring.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate how hosts gain inclusive fitness through conspecific brood parasitism.
    • To explore the evolutionary implications of host-parasite relatedness in waterfowl.

    Main Methods:

    • Developed a model to assess host inclusive fitness gains from parasitism.
    • Used reproductive and life-history data from waterfowl species.

    Main Results:

    • Hosts can achieve inclusive fitness benefits when parasitized by relatives.
    • Increased reproduction and survival of parasites contribute to host gains.
    • Fitness gains are maximized when hosts help related parasites, especially older females helping younger relatives.

    Conclusions:

    • In waterfowl, conspecific brood parasitism can be neutral or advantageous due to inclusive-fitness benefits.
    • Host-parasite relatedness is a key factor in the evolution of frequent CBP in this group.