Experimentally manipulated food availability affects offspring quality but not quantity in zebra finch meso-populations

• Published in: Oecologia Vol. 199; no. 4; pp. 769 - 783
• Main Authors: Gerritsma, Yoran H., Driessen, Merijn M. G., Tangili, Marianthi, de Boer, Sietse F., Verhulst, Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal reproduction; Availability; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Breeding seasons; Breeding success; Clutch size; Clutches; Conspecifics; Ecology; Egg laying; Food; Food availability; Food quality; Food supply; Highlighted Student Research; Hydrology/Water Resources; Life Sciences; Natural populations; Offspring; Plant Sciences; Population number; Populations; Predators; Reinforcement; Reproduction; Success; Survival; Taeniopygia guttata; Zebra finch; Brood size; Life-history; Reproductive success; Growth; Foraging

Food availability modulates survival, reproduction and thereby population size. In addition to direct effects, food availability has indirect effects through density of conspecifics and predators. We tested the prediction that food availability in isolation affects reproductive success by experiment...