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2015:groups:g1:start

Group 1

Cuckoo chicks: From parasitism to mutualism

Wiki site of the practical exercise of the IV Southern-Summer School on Mathematical Biology.

Here you will find the exercise assignment and the group's products.

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Introduction

Female cuckoos lay their eggs on other birds' nests, leaving to them the task of feeding the cuckoo's young, along with their own. In this form of parasitism, called brood parasitism, the host's nestlings frequently starve as a result of competition with the parasite, or are ejected by it. In response, many bird species have evolved the ability to recognize the presence of intruder eggs and eject them from the nest.

In a recent paper (Canestrari et al. 2014), the authors find that cuckoo chicks are able to produce a substance that repels predators, reducing predation risk and thus benefitting the host's chicks.

Great Spotted Cuckoo Great Spotted Cuckoo

Cuckoo Eggs Mimicking Reed Warbler Eggs Clutches of Reed Warbler eggs, each containing one (larger) Cuckoo egg

Assignment

Identify the key players of this system and their roles. Propose a model for their population dynamics that take into account the relevant biological information available.

Suggested questions

  • Can nest parasitism by cuckoos (which are obligatory brood parasites) extinguish host populations? How, or why?
  • How strong must predation be to be advantageous for hosts to keep the intruders?

References

  • Canestrari et al. (2014) From Parasitism to Mutualism: Unexpected Interactions Between a Cuckoo and Its Host Science Vol. 343 no. 6177 pp. 1350-1352 link
  • SI Rothstein (1990) A model system for coevolution: avian brood parasitism Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics Vol. 21 pp. 481-508 link
  • RB Payne (1977) The ecology of brood parasitism in birds Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics Vol. 8 pp 1-28 link

Group results

2015/groups/g1/start.txt · Last modified: 2024/01/09 18:45 by 127.0.0.1