Ecology and Evolution of Cooperative Breeding in Birds

About this book

Cooperative breeding (where individuals in addition to parents are involved) is found in only a few hundred bird species; understanding this seemingly altruistic behaviour has been an important challenge in behavioural ecology for over 30 years. This book highlights the theoretical, empirical and technical advances made since Stacey & Koenig's Cooperative Breeding in Birds. Special attention is paid to ways in which cooperative breeders have advanced understanding of such evolutionary issues as sexual selection, sex-ratio manipulation, life-history evolution, partitioning of reproduction and incest avoidance.

Contents

Introduction Walter D. Koenig and Janis L. Dickinson; 1. Evolutionary origins J. David Ligon and D. Brent Burt; 2. Delayed dispersal Jan Ekman, Janis L. Dickinson, Ben J. Hatchwell and Michael Griesser; 3. Fitness consequences of helping Janis L. Dickinson and Ben J. Hatchwell; 4. Parental care, load-lightening and costs Robert G. Heinsohn; 5. Matings systems and sexual conflict Andrew Cockburn; 6. Sex-ratio manipulation Jan Komdeur; 7. Physiological ecology Morne Du Plessis; 8. Endocrinology Steven J. Schoech, S. James Reynolds and Raoul K. Boughton; 9. Incest and incest avoidance Walter D. Koenig and Joseph Haydock; 10. Reproductive skew Robert D. Magrath, Rufus A. Johnstone and Robert G. Heinsohn; 11. Joint-laying systems Sandra L. Vehrencamp and James S. Quinn; 12. Conservation biology Jeffrey R. Walters, Caren B. Cooper, Susan J. Daniels, Gilberto Pasinelli and Karen Schiegg; 13. Mammalian contrasts and comparisons Andrew F. Russell; Summary Steven J. Pruett-Jones; Names of bird and mammal species mentioned in the text; References; Index.

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Biography

Walter Koenig is Research Zoologist at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Integrative Biology. Janis Dickinson is Assistant Research Zoologist at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.