John M. Eadie and Nicole Suzanne Odell. Proposal # IOS-0710455
This study will examine how females may alter the development of their offspring other than by the direct effects of genetic inheritance or parental care. The central question is whether female Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) manipulate hormones in their eggs to influence the development rate, personality-type, or adult reproductive behavior of their offspring. This is an intriguing question for species exhibiting brood parasitism, a behavior in which two or more females lay eggs in the same nest but only one female incubates the eggs. In such species, maternal hormones could have a profound influence on their offspring's future reproductive behavior. To evaluate this possibility, this study will: (1) examine variation in egg hormones within and among clutches of individual females, (2) determine if yolk hormones influence the development or personality-type of offspring, and (3) evaluate whether female reproductive tactics (host versus parasite) reflect hormone levels and are transferable from mother to offspring. Hormone samples will be taken from adult females, eggs and ducklings, behavioral observations will be conducted on adult females to monitor their reproductive tactics, and behavioral tests will be completed on ducklings from hatch to 45 days of age. The intellectual merits of this study are twofold: (1) it will provide a fresh outlook on a well-studied system by integrating two fields of inquiry, physiology and animal behavior; and (2) it will help to develop a framework for future work on the possible transfer of maternal traits to offspring. The broader impacts of the study include: (1) an evaluation of how conservation management actions may impact organisms on a physiological level; and (2) the development of internship opportunities to allow undergraduates from different fields and unrepresented groups, such as women and minority groups, to participate in a large field study and gain hands-on experience in animal behavior research.
