IEC 2005: Hungary - Scientific program of workshops

Maternal effects are currently a highly debated topic in behavioral biology and evolutionary biology. Maternal effects occur when the phenotype of an individual is determined not only by its own genotype and the environmental conditions it experiences during development, but also by the phenotype and/or the environment of its mother. Maternal effects have received increasing attention as they represent an important pathway how the offspring's phenotype is shaped by the mother's phenotype. It is known that female birds differentially allocate resources in relation to environmental conditions. The amount of these resources can have important consequences for offspring development which may last into adulthood.

Theoretical models show that this can have important evolutionary consequences such as rapid adaptation to local conditions but adaptation to changing conditions may also be delayed.

Because of the increasing interest and a number of recent publications on maternal effects in birds we believe that is important to discuss the theoretical implications, mechanistic pathways or constraints and the possible functional consequences of maternal effects.

Keywords: behaviour biology, birds, parental investment, development, maternal effect

Organizer(s):

K Witte

Dep. of Animal Behaviour, Univ. of Bielefeld, Germany

N von Engelhardt

Research Group Animal Behaviour, Univ. of Groningen, Netherlands

Oral presentations:

10.00-10.20	Groothuis TGG, von Engelhardt N - Are androgen-mediated maternal effects in birds adaptive? A review and a suggestion
10.20-10.40	Arnold KE, Nager RG - Maternal state, egg quality and offspring fitness
10.40-11.00	Martin TE - Maternal effects on avian embryonic development
11.00-11.20	Roulin AR - Colour polymorphism is associated with pre- and post-hatching female and male reproductive investment in the tawny owl
	- Coffee break -
11.40-12.00	Graves JA, Williamson KA, Gilbert L - Do maternal effects in response to male attractiveness influence offspring development in the Zebra finch?
12.00-12.20	von Engelhardt N, Dijkstra C, Groothuis TGG - Long-term effects of elevated yolk testosterone on offspring morphology, physiology, and behaviour in the zebra finch
12.20-12.40	Witte K - Carotenoids in zebra finches: Do females allocate or compensate?

Posters:

	Hargitai R, Matus Z, Tóth Gy, Török J - Male age and laying order affect yolk β-carotene concentration in the collared flycatcher
	Szigeti B, Török J, Hegyi G, Rosivall B, Hargitai R, Szöll?si E, Michl G - Egg quality and parental ornamentation in the blue tit