Lifetime Fitness Variation Across the Geographical Range in a Colour Polymorphic Species
: Bucciolini, Gian Luigi; Morosinotto, Chiara; Brommer, Jon; Vrezec, Al; Ericsson, Peter; Nilsson, Lars-Ove; Poprach, Karel; Øien, Ingar Jostein; Karell, Patrik
Publisher: Wiley
: HOBOKEN
: 2025
: Ecology and Evolution
: Ecology and Evolution
: ECOL EVOL
: e71051
: 15
: 4
: 13
: 2045-7758
: 2045-7758
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71051
: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71051
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/498505861
The maintenance of variation (i.e., different phenotypes) for heritable traits that are under selection, despite expectations of selection eroding variation and favouring only the fittest phenotype, represents an evolutionary paradox. Here, we studied variation in life-history traits in five populations of colour polymorphic tawny owls (Strix aluco) across Europe that have been individually studied for 13 years. Tawny owls show heritable plumage colour variation ranging from less pigmented (grey) to more heavily pigmented (brown-red). The breeding life span (BLS), lifetime egg production (LEP), lifetime reproductive success (LRS) and the number of years skipped between breeding attempts (NYS) varied between the study populations, with LEP and LRS varying across colour morphs in a population-specific fashion. Thus, grey tawny owl females have higher lifetime fledgling and egg production than brown-red females in some populations, but vice versa in others. Hence, our findings demonstrate disruptive selection of tawny owl plumage colourations across their European range, which may be one factor maintaining variation in heritable tawny owl colourations.
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The work was supported by the Research Council of Finland (grant numbers 309992, 314108 and 335335 to P.K.), the University of Turku (UTU) and Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica (personal grant to G.L.B.). C.M. acknowledge for funding the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4, Component 2 Investment 1.4 - Call for tender No. 3138 of 16 December 2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of 18 December 2021 of Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU; Award Number: Project code CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP C93C22002810006, Project title "National Biodiversity Future Center - NBFC". A.V. and studies in Slovenia were supported by research core funding No. P1-0255 by the Slovenian Research Agency. In Norway, the work was supported by the Office of the County Governor of Tr & oslash;ndelag and Konsul Haldor Viriks Legat. Nesting support for tawny owls as part of the biological pro-tection of the forest is financially supported in the long term by Lesy & Ccaron;eske republiky, s. p. (Forests of the Czech Republic) and Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic
