Macroecology of parental care in arthropods: with many enemies comes great responsability to the parents

• Grant number: 12/10167-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Glauco Machado
• Grantee: Pedro Penna Bueno
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Parental care is a fundamental aspect of the reproductive biology of many species that are usually modeled based on costs and benefits, which are expected to vary according to biotic and abiotic conditions. The main goal of this project is to test if the benefits of parental in arthropods are greater in tropical than in temperate regions. More specifically, we will test the prediction that unattended clutches in the tropics will have higher egg mortality rates when compared to unattended clutches in temperate regions because the intensity of natural enemy attacks is probably higher. Empirical data will be obtained from the literature and analyzed using a meta-analysis approach. The selected papers must provide an experimental test on the role of parental care under field conditions, and also must state clearly where the study was conducted so that we can obtain information on the local climate (tropical vs. temperate). This study is a formal test for the hypothesis that intense predation by ants and conspecifics, as well as high risk of fungal infection on the eggs, are responsible for the high frequency of parental care among tropical arthropods. Even though our data cannot be used to make inferences on the evolution of parental care, they will shed light on the maintenance of this behavioral trait in ecological time.(AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SANTOS, EDUARDO S. A.; BUENO, PEDRO P.; GILBERT, JAMES D. J.; MACHADO, GLAUCO. Macroecology of parental care in arthropods: higher mortality risk leads to higher benefits of offspring protection in tropical climates. BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, v. 92, n. 3, p. 1688-1701, AUG 2017. (12/50229-1, 15/10448-4, 12/20468-4, 12/10167-7)