UNESCO – EOLSS SAMPLE CHAPTERS TROPICAL BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT - Vol. VIII - Breeding Strategies of Tropical Birds - Alexandre Ferreira de Souza Dias, Rafael Maia and Raphael Igor Dias ©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) BREEDING STRATEGIES OF TROPICAL BIRDS Alexandre Ferreira de Souza Dias Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade de Brasília,Brazil Rafael Maia and Raphael Igor Dias Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília,Brazil Keywords: brood parasitism, cooperative breeding, extra-pair copulations, lek, mating systems, monogamy, promiscuity, tropics. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Tropical Birds: Life History and Ecology 3. Monogamy and Extra-Pair Paternity 3.1. Socially Monogamous Bonds 3.2. Breaking the Bonds: Conflict and Extra-pair Paternity 4. Polygamous and Promiscuous Mating Systems 4.1. Polyandry 5. Cooperative Breeding 5.1. Home, sweet home! 5.2. To help or not to help? 5.3. Costs of Cooperative Breeding 6. Final Considerations Acknowledgements Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketches Summary Tropical bird mating systems are extremely diverse and comprise a great variety of social interactions, resulting in a complex relation between what we perceive as the mating system and the actual genetic outcome of such interactions. Monogamy, polygyny, polyandry and polygynandry are classical definitions that take into account the social interactions among individuals but, with the advance of molecular techniques, such terms are being reviewed since the 1990’s to also include a genetic perspective. For instance, it is now known that, although 90% of birds are socially monogamous, 86% of all passerine species have been demonstrated to carry out extra-pair copulations as a breeding strategy, with genetic monogamy occurring in only about 14%. This chapter will provide an overview of the current knowledge regarding different aspects that influence the occurrence of a given avian mating system, such as sexual selection, sexual conflict, degree of parental care provided by each sex, ecological features and evolutionary heritage, with tropical species examples provided whenever possible. Special attention is given to the variation in parental care, mate choice and resource access, regarded as major ecological and behavioral factors. Tropical birds are subject to different ecological pressures and thus have particular life history traits such as high