High temperatures drive offspring mortality in a cooperatively breeding bird

Author:

Bourne Amanda R.1ORCID,Cunningham Susan J.1,Spottiswoode Claire N.12,Ridley Amanda R.13

Affiliation:

1. FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

2. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK

3. Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia

Abstract

An improved understanding of life-history responses to current environmental variability is required to predict species-specific responses to anthopogenic climate change. Previous research has suggested that cooperation in social groups may buffer individuals against some of the negative effects of unpredictable climates. We use a 15-year dataset on a cooperative breeding arid zone bird, the southern pied babbler Turdoides bicolor , to test (i) whether environmental conditions and group size correlate with survival of young during three development stages (egg, nestling, fledgling) and (ii) whether group size mitigates the impacts of adverse environmental conditions on survival of young. Exposure to high mean daily maximum temperatures (mean T max ) during early development was associated with reduced survival probabilities of young in all three development stages. No young survived when mean T max > 38°C, across all group sizes. Low survival of young at high temperatures has broad implications for recruitment and population persistence in avian communities given the rapid pace of advancing climate change. Impacts of high temperatures on survival of young were not moderated by group size, suggesting that the availability of more helpers in a group is unlikely to buffer against compromised offspring survival as average and maximum temperatures increase with rapid anthropogenic climate change.

Funder

Australian Research Council

University of Cape Town

DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology

British Ornithologists' Union

Oppenheimer Memorial Trust

National Research Foundation of South Africa

BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine

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