The contribution of extra-pair paternity to the variation in lifetime and age-specific male reproductive success in a socially monogamous species
Cite this dataset
Raj Pant, Sara (2022). The contribution of extra-pair paternity to the variation in lifetime and age-specific male reproductive success in a socially monogamous species [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dfn2z350d
Abstract
In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity (EPP) is predicted to increase variance in male reproductive success beyond that resulting from genetic monogamy, thus increasing the ‘opportunity for selection’ (maximum strength of selection that can act on a trait). This prediction is challenging to investigate in wild populations because lifetime reproduction data are often incomplete. Moreover, age-specific variances in reproductive success have been rarely quantified. We analysed 21 years of near-complete social and genetic reproduction data from an insular population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). We quantified the contribution of EPP to lifetime and age-specific opportunities for selection in males. We also compared the variance in male genetic reproductive success (RS) vs. social (‘apparent’) reproductive success (RSap) to assess if EPP increased the opportunity for selection over that resulting from genetic monogamy. EPP contributed substantially to the variance in lifetime RS, despite not causing a statistically significant excess of this over the variance in lifetime RSap. Partitioning the opportunity for selection into age-specific (co)variance components, showed that EPP provided a substantial contribution at most ages, varying with age. Therefore, in Seychelles warblers EPP likely provides an age-dependent contribution to the opportunity for selection, which can influence evolutionary processes in age-structured populations.
Usage notes
Data file "Lifetime_Data.xlsx": data on social and genetic reproductive success (and its components) in the period 1997-2018 for 237 male Seychelles warblers born in 1997-2005 on Cousin Island (Seychelles).
File tabs
"Lifetime reproduction": data on lifetime reproduction, age of first dominance and longevity
"Additive method": data on age-specific reproduction across all males (data analysed with the additive method of variance partitioning)
"Independent method": data on age-specific reproducion across males surviving to each age (data analysed with the independent method of variance partitioning)
"Lifetime M N P": data on lifetime number of mates, mate fecundity and paternity allocation of males that sired at least 1 within-group and 1 extra-group offspring in life
Variables in the file
MaleID: male identity; AgeClass: age class (in years; "12"= 12+); AFD: age of first dominance (years); Longevity: lifespan (years)
EGP: extra-group paternity; WGP: within-group paternity; RS: reproductive success; RSap: apparent reproductive success
LEGP: lifetime extra-group paternity; LWGP: lifetime within-group paternity; LRS: lifetime reproductive success; LRSap: lifetime apparent reproductive success
LMe: number of extra-group mates in life; LMw: number of within-group mates in life
LNe: number of offspring per extra-group mate throughout the male's life
LNw: number of offspring per within-group mate throughout the male's life
LPe: proportion of young sired per extra-group mate throughout the male's life
LPw: proportion of young sired per within-group mate throughout the male's life