Lars Erik Johannessen

• Omotoriogun, Taiwo Crossby; Albrecht, Tomas; Gohli, Jostein; Horák, David; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Johnsen, Arild; Kreisinger, Jakub; Marki, Petter Zahl; Ottosson, Ulf; Rowe, Melissah; Sedlacek, Ondrej & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2020). Sperm length variation among Afrotropical songbirds reflects phylogeny rather than adaptations to the tropical environment. Zoology.  ISSN 0944-2006.  140 . doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2020.125770 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Sperm cells vary tremendously in size and shape across the animal kingdom. In songbirds (Aves: Passeri), sperm have a characteristic helical form but vary considerably in size. Most of our knowledge about sperm morphology in this group stems from studies of species in the Northern temperate zone, while little is known about the numerous species in the tropics. Here we examined sperm size in 125 Afrotropical songbird species with emphasis on the length of the major structural components (head, midpiece, flagellum), and total sperm length measured using light microscopy. Mean total sperm length varied from 51 μm to 212 μm across species. Those belonging to the Corvoidea superfamily had relatively short sperm with a small midpiece, while those of the three major Passeridan superfamilies Passeroidea, Muscicapoidea and Sylvioidea showed large interspecific variation in total sperm length and associated variation in midpiece length. These patterns are consistent with previous findings for temperate species in the same major clades. A comparative analysis with songbird species from the Northern temperate zone (N = 139) showed large overlap in sperm length ranges although certain temperate families (e.g. Parulidae, Emberizidae) typically have long sperm and certain Afrotropical families (e.g. Cisticolidae, Estrildidae) have relatively short sperm. Afrotropical and temperate species belonging to the same families showed no consistent contrasts in sperm length. Sperm length variation among Afrotropical and Northern temperate songbirds exhibits a strong phylogenetic signal with little or no evidence for any directional latitudinal effect among closely related taxa.

• Lifjeld, Jan Terje; Gohli, Jostein; Albrecht, Tomas; Garcia-del-Rey, Eduardo; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Kleven, Oddmund; Marki, Petter Zahl; Omotoriogun, Taiwo Crossby; Rowe, Melissah & Johnsen, Arild (2019). Evolution of female promiscuity in Passerides songbirds. BMC Evolutionary Biology.  ISSN 1471-2148.  19(1) . doi: 10.1186/s12862-019-1493-1 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Background: Female promiscuity is highly variable among birds, and particularly among songbirds. Comparative work has identified several patterns of covariation with social, sexual, ecological and life history traits. However, it is unclear whether these patterns reflect causes or consequences of female promiscuity, or if they are byproducts of some unknown evolutionary drivers. Moreover, factors that explain promiscuity at the deep nodes in the phylogenetic tree may be different from those important at the tips, i.e. among closely related species. Here we examine the relationships between female promiscuity and a broad set of predictor variables in a comprehensive data set (N = 202 species) of Passerides songbirds, which is a highly diversified infraorder of the Passeriformes exhibiting significant variation in female promiscuity. Results: Female promiscuity was highly variable in all major clades of the Passerides phylogeny and also among closely related species. We found several significant associations with female promiscuity, albeit with fairly small effect sizes (all R2 ≤ 0.08). More promiscuous species had: 1) less male parental care, particularly during the early stages of the nesting cycle (nest building and incubation), 2) more short-term pair bonds, 3) greater degree of sexual dichromatism, primarily because females were drabber, 4) more migratory behaviour, and 5) stronger premating sexual selection. In a multivariate model, however, the effect of sexual selection disappeared, while the other four variables showed additive effects and together explained about 16% of the total variance in female promiscuity. Female promiscuity showed no relationship with body size, life history variation, latitude or cooperative breeding. Conclusions: We found that multiple traits were associated with female promiscuity, but these associations were generally weak. Some traits, such as reduced parental care in males and more cryptic plumage in females, might even be responses to, rather than causes of, variation in female promiscuity. Hence, the high variation in female promiscuity among Passerides species remains enigmatic. Female promiscuity seems to be a rapidly evolving trait that often diverges between species with similar ecologies and breeding systems. A future challenge is therefore to understand what drives within-lineage variation in female promiscuity over microevolutionary time scales. Keywords: Extrapair paternity, Life history, Mating system, Pair bond, Parental care, Sexual selection

• Cramer, Emily Rebecca A; Stensrud, Even; Marthinsen, Gunnhild; Hogner, Silje; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Laskemoen, Terje; Eybert, Marie-Christine; Slagsvold, Tore; Lifjeld, Jan Terje & Johnsen, Arild (2016). Sperm performance in conspecific and heterospecific female fluid. Ecology and Evolution.  ISSN 2045-7758. . doi: 10.1002/ece3.1977 Full text in Research Archive.
• Lifjeld, Jan Terje; Anmarkrud, Jarl Andreas; Calabuig, Pascual; Cooper, Joseph E.J.; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Johnsen, Arild; Kearns, Anna Marika; Lachlan, Robert F.; Laskemoen, Terje; Marthinsen, Gunnhild; Stensrud, Even & Garcia-del-Rey, Eduardo (2016). Species-level divergences in multiple functional traits between the two endemic subspecies of Blue Chaffinches Fringilla teydea in Canary Islands. BMC Zoology.  ISSN 2056-3132. . doi: 10.1186/s40850-016-0008-4
• Gohli, Jostein; Leder, Erica H.; Garcia-Del-Rey, Eduardo; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Johnsen, Arild; Laskemoen, Terje; Popp, Magnus & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2014). The evolutionary history of Afrocanarian blue tits inferred from genomewide SNPs. Molecular Ecology.  ISSN 0962-1083.  24(1), s 180- 191 . doi: 10.1111/mec.13008
• Garcia-Del-Rey, Eduardo; Marthinsen, Gunnhild; Calabuig, Pascual; Estévez, Loly; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Johnsen, Arild; Laskemoen, Terje & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2013). Reduced genetic diversity and sperm motility in the endangered Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch Fringilla teydea polatzeki. Journal of Ornithology = Journal fur Ornithologie.  ISSN 0021-8375.  154(3), s 761- 768 . doi: 10.1007/s10336-013-0940-9
• Laskemoen, Terje; Albrecht, Tomas; Bonisoli-Alquati, Andrea; Cepak, Jaroslav; de Lope, Florentino; Hermosell, Ignacio G.; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Kleven, Oddmund; Marzal, Alfonso; Mousseau, Timothy A.; Møller, Anders P.; Robertson, Raleigh J.; Rudolfsen, Geir; Saino, Nicola; Vortman, Yoni & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2013). Variation in sperm morphometry and sperm competition among barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) populations. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.  ISSN 0340-5443.  67(2), s 301- 309 . doi: 10.1007/s00265-012-1450-0 Show summary

  Spermatozoa vary greatly in size and shape among species across the animal kingdom. Postcopulatory sexual selection is thought to be the major evolutionary force driving this diversity. In contrast, less is known about how sperm size varies among populations of the same species. Here, we investigate geographic variation in sperm size in barn swallows Hirundo rustica, a socially monogamous passerine with a wide Holarctic breeding distribution. We included samplesfrom seven populations and three subspecies: five populations of ssp. rustica in Europe (Czech, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Ukraine), one population of ssp. transitiva in Israel, and one population of ssp. erythrogaster in Canada. All sperm traits (head length, midpiece length, tail length, and total length) varied significantly among populations. The variation among the European rustica populations was much lower than the differences among subspecies, indicating that sperm traits reflect phylogenetic distance. We also performed a test of the relationship between the coefficient of between-male variation in total sperm length and extrapair paternity levels across different populations within a species. Recent studies have found a strong negative relationship between sperm size variation and extrapair paternity among species. Here, we show a similar negative relationship among six barn swallow populations, which suggests that the variance in male sperm length in a population is shaped by the strength of stabilizing postcopulatory sexual selection. Barn swallow . Extrapair paternity . Hirundo rustica . Sperm competition . Sperm size

• Laskemoen, Terje; Kleven, Oddmund; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Fossøy, Frode; Robertson, Raleigh J. & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2013). Repeatability of sperm size and motility within and between seasons in the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica). Journal of Ornithology = Journal fur Ornithologie.  ISSN 0021-8375.  154(4), s 955- 963 . doi: 10.1007/s10336-013-0961-4
• Lifjeld, Jan Terje; Hoenen, Antje; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Laskemoen, Terje; Lopes, Ricardo J.; Rodrigues, Pedro M. & Rowe, Melissah (2013). The Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina) has the same unusual and size-variable sperm morphology as the Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.  ISSN 0024-4066.  108(3), s 677- 687 . doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.02040.x
• Slagsvold, Tore; Kleiven, Kari; Eriksen, Ane & Johannessen, Lars Erik (2013). Vertical and horizontal transmission of nest site preferences in titmice. Animal Behaviour.  ISSN 0003-3472.  85(2), s 323- 328 . doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.10.024
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Ke, Dianhua; Lu, Xin & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2011). Geographical variation in patterns of parentage and relatedness in the co-operatively breeding Ground Tit Parus humilis. IBIS.  ISSN 0019-1019.  153(2), s 373- 383 . doi: 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01115.x
• Hansen, Bo Terning; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Slagsvold, Tore (2010). Interspecific cross-fostering of great tits (Parus major) by blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) affects inter- and intraspecific communication. Behaviour.  ISSN 0005-7959.  147(3), s 413- 424 . doi: 10.1163/000579509X12578482434926
• Hansen, Bo Terning; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Slagsvold, Tore (2009). Interspecific cross-fostering affects mate guarding behaviour in great tits (Parus major). Behaviour.  ISSN 0005-7959.  146, s 1349- 1361 . doi: 10.1163/156853909X427713
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Kristiansen, Lena; Hansen, Bo Terning & Slagsvold, Tore (2009). Facultative Adjustment of Brood Sex Ratio in Response to Indirect Manipulation of Behaviour. Ethology.  ISSN 0179-1613.  115(11), s 1057- 1065 . doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2009.01695.x
• Amrhein, Valentin; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Kristiansen, Lena & Slagsvold, Tore (2008). Reproductive strategy and singing activity: blue tit and great tit compared. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.  ISSN 0340-5443.  62, s 1633- 1641 . doi: 10.1007/s00265-008-0592-6
• Hansen, Bo Terning; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Slagsvold, Tore (2008). Imprinted species recognition lasts for life in free-living great tits and blue tits. Animal Behaviour.  ISSN 0003-3472.  75 . doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.023
• Hansen, Bo Terning; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Slagsvold, Tore (2007). No cultural transmission of species recognition between parents and offspring in free-living great tits and blue tits. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.  ISSN 0340-5443.  61, s 1203- 1209 . doi: 10.1007/s00265-007-0350-1
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Slagsvold, Tore & Hansen, Bo Terning (2006). Effects of social rearing conditions on song structure and repertoire size: experimental evidence from the field. Animal Behaviour.  ISSN 0003-3472.  72, s 83- 95
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Slagsvold, Tore; Hansen, Bo Terning & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2005). Manipulation of male quality in wild tits: effects on paternity loss. Behavioral Ecology.  ISSN 1045-2249.  16, s 747- 754
• Slagsvold, Tore; Hansen, Bo Terning; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2002). Mate choice and imprinting in birds studied by cross-fostering in the wild. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences.  ISSN 0962-8452.  269, s 1449- 1455 Show summary

  Sexual selection theories generally assume that mating preferences are heritable traits. However, there is substantial evidence that the rearing environment may be important for the development of mating preferences, indicating that they may be learnt, or modified by experience. The relative importance of such sexual imprinting across species remains largely unexplored. Here we report results of a large-scale cross-fostering experiment in the wild in which nestling birds were raised by parents of a different species. We show that resulting sexual imprinting may have a negative effect on pairing success in one species (the great tit Parus major), but not in two other species (the blue tit P. caeruleus and the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca). A remarkable variation thus seems to exist, even between species that are congeneric and have similar breeding ecologies. The cross-fostering resulted in heterospecific pairings between the two tit species (female blue tit x male great tit), which never previously have been documented. However, the chicks fledging from these nests were all blue tit.

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• Johannessen, Lars Erik (2020). Carl Lumholtz, Norges ukjente oppdager. Bidrag til museets samlinger fra Carl Lumholtz’ reise i Queensland 1880–84.
• Johannessen, Lars Erik & Baanerud, Erik (2020, 27. januar). Livet i naturen - Samlingen til Carl Lumholtz. [Radio].  NRK P1+.
• Laskemoen, Terje; Garcia-Del-Rey, Eduardo; Johannessen, Lars Erik; Albrecht, Tomas & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2012). Sperm evolution in the Canary Islands chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis).
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Ke, Dianhua; Lu, Xin & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2006). Parentage and relatedness patterns in the Tibetan endemic ground tit (Pseudopodoces humilis).
• Slagsvold, Tore; Hansen, Bo Terning; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Kristiansen, Lena (2006). Sexual imprinting: Enlightenment from interspecific cross-fostering in the wild. Journal of Ornithology = Journal fur Ornithologie.  ISSN 0021-8375.  147, s 112- 112
• Johannessen, Lars Erik (2004). Effects of interspecific cross-fostering on song learning in tits.
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Slagsvold, Tore; Hansen, Bo Terning & Lifjeld, Jan Terje (2004). Manipulation of male quality in wild tits: effects on paternity loss.
• Johannessen, Lars Erik (2003). Song learning in tits.
• Johannessen, Lars Erik; Hansen, Bo Terning & Slagsvold, Tore (2002). Do interspecifically cross-fostered tits obtain territories of inferior quality?. Show summary

  Through a large-scale cross-fostering experiment on small passerines (mainly great tits Parus major reared by blue tits P. caeruleus and vice versa) we have obtained a population of these species where a considerable amount of the individuals have grown up with parents and/or siblings of a foreign species. The interspecific cross-fostering have proved to influence negatively on various behavioural and life-history aspects, such as local recruitment, mating preferences and reproductive success. Here we investigate the effect of social background on ability to obtain a high-quality territory, and on the onset of egg laying. In the study area about 70 and 85 pairs of great tits and blue tits, respectively, nest each year in the ca. 430 nest boxes provided. Territory (i.e., nest box) quality was estimated as the proportion of years a nest box had been in use, and timing of egg laying was determined on the basis of visits to the nest boxes at least every third day. There were no clear indications that cross-fostered tits possessed inferior territories. Female great tits reared by blue tits commenced laying significantly later than controls. For the remaining groups there were no differences with respect to egg laying. Cross-fostered tits thus seem to fare just as well as controls with respect to achievement of territories and mates.

• Tsering, Dorge; Johannessen, Lars Erik & Solhøy, Torstein (2002). Breeding biology of the Grey-backed Shrike Lanius tephronotus in Lhasa, Tibet. Show summary

  The grey-backed, or Tibetan, shrike (Lanius tephronotus) is one of the less well known species of its genus in Asia. Its morphology, phylogenetic status and geographical distribution have to some degree been investigated. Information on breeding ecology has, however, largely been missing, and is generally anecdotal in character. We have studied a population of grey-backed shrikes near Lhasa, Tibet. Data on nesting and breeding was collected mainly during the seasons of 1998-2000, but in some cases data back to 1991 has been incorporated. Now we are able to present partly novel information on the breeding biology of this little known species, along with some data on morphology of both adult and especially young individuals. The poster presents data on the following subjects; time of arrival; choice of habitat and nesting place; onset of nesting and egg laying; clutch size; duration of incubation; causes of nest and egg loss; hatching date, nestling period and fledging date; estimates of hatching, fledging and total nesting success; development of nestlings, as measured by body weight and length; biometric data on juvenile and adult birds. Detailed data of this kind have been missing in all major accounts of the species so far, and the present contribution consequently serves to fill in some of these gaps in the litterature.

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