Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (28)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Røskaft, E.
Right arrow Articles by Honza, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Røskaft, E.
Right arrow Articles by Honza, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 13 No. 2: 163-168
© 2002 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

The spatial habitat structure of host populations explains the pattern of rejection behavior in hosts and parasitic adaptations in cuckoos

Eivin Røskafta, Arne Moksnesa, Bård G. Stokkea, Csaba Moskátb and Marcel Honzac

a Department of Zoology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway b Animal Ecology Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, c/o Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1083 Budapest, Ludovika ter 2, Hungary c Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Kvetná 8, 60365 Brno, Czech Republic

Address correspondence to E. Røskaft. E-mail: roskaft{at}chembio.ntnu.no .

In this article we present tentative support for predictions derived from a spatial habitat structure hypothesis arguing that common cuckoos Cuculus canorus, the most common obligate brood parasite in Europe, only breed in areas where they have access to vantage points in trees. Thus, species in which some populations breed near trees while other populations breed farther from trees have a different cuckoo—host population dynamic than species in which all populations always breed in the vicinity of trees. Parasitism rate, mimicry of brood parasite eggs with those of the hosts, and rejection behavior of hosts varies with the host breeding habitat. Cuckoos are best adapted to exploit species in which some populations breed near trees while other populations breed in open areas because such hosts are not always accessible to cuckoos, and thus gene flow among unparasitized and parasitized populations delays the evolution of host adaptations. Adaptive behavior in cuckoos as well as in their hosts can be predicted from the spatial habitat structure hypothesis.

Key words: brood parasitism, cuckoos, Cuculus canorus, gene flow, habitat structure, host behavior, metapopulation.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
B. G. Stokke, I. Hafstad, G. Rudolfsen, A. Moksnes, A. P. Moller, E. Roskaft, and M. Soler
Predictors of resistance to brood parasitism within and among reed warbler populations
Behav. Ecol., February 24, 2008; (2008) arn007v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
E. Roskaft, F. Takasu, A. Moksnes, and B. G. Stokke
Importance of spatial habitat structure on establishment of host defenses against brood parasitism
Behav. Ecol., September 1, 2006; 17(5): 700 - 708.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.