Parasite treatment affects maternal investment in sons

Abstract

Parasitism can be a major constraint on host condition and an important selective force. Theoretical and empirical evidence shows that maternal condition affects relative investment in sons and daughters; however, the affect of parasitism on sex ratio in vertebrates is seldom considered. Here we demonstrate experimentally that parasitism constrains the ability of mothers to rear sons in a long lived seabird, the European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis. The effect contributes to the decline in offspring survival as the breeding season progresses and hence has important population-level consequences for this, and potentially other, seasonal breeders