Seasonal Decline in Clutch Size in European Starlings: A Novel Randomization Test to Distinguish between the Timing and Quality Hypotheses

• Published in: The Journal of animal ecology Vol. 70; no. 6; pp. 1080 - 1087
• Main Authors: Christians, Julian K., Evanson, Melissa, Aiken, Jonathan J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK British Ecological Society 01.11.2001; Blackwell Science Ltd; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Breeding seasons; Clutch size; Depopulation; egg mass; Egg masses; Eggs; Female animals; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; intraspecific variation; laying date; Monte Carlo test; Population trends; Random allocation; repeatability; Starlings; Sturnus vulgaris; Vertebrata; Canada; British Columbia; North America; America; Monte Carlo method; Breeding season; Vertebrata; Egg laying; Decay; Intraspecific comparison; Clutch size; Timing; Aves; Sturnus vulgaris; Date

1. The seasonal decline in clutch size observed in many avian populations may be due to (a) a causal effect of the timing of breeding or (b) variation in individual quality (i.e. lower quality individuals lay fewer eggs and lay later in the season). 2. To distinguish between these two hypotheses, we...