Hot and Bothered: Climate Change, Cannibalism, and Ovulation Synchrony
Presenter Status
Faculty
Session
C-1
Location
CSH Room 108
Start Date
8-5-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
8-5-2014 2:30 PM
Presentation Abstract
El Niño events can be used to study the effects of climate change on a short timescale. We found that (1) egg cannibalism in a seabird colony increased during El Niño events, when resources are scarce, and that (2) females laid eggs synchronously in dense parts of the colony. We use mathematical models and field experiments to test the hypotheses that (1) cannibalism can be adaptive when resources are low, and that (2) ovulation synchrony can be adaptive in the presence of cannibalism, because female gulls that lay eggs synchronously reduce the chance that their eggs will be cannibalized by neighbors.
Hot and Bothered: Climate Change, Cannibalism, and Ovulation Synchrony
CSH Room 108
El Niño events can be used to study the effects of climate change on a short timescale. We found that (1) egg cannibalism in a seabird colony increased during El Niño events, when resources are scarce, and that (2) females laid eggs synchronously in dense parts of the colony. We use mathematical models and field experiments to test the hypotheses that (1) cannibalism can be adaptive when resources are low, and that (2) ovulation synchrony can be adaptive in the presence of cannibalism, because female gulls that lay eggs synchronously reduce the chance that their eggs will be cannibalized by neighbors.