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Putnam AS, Ferrie GM, Ivy JA. Ex situ breeding programs benefit from science-based cooperative management. Zoo Biol 2023; 42:5-16. [PMID: 35560574 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Science-based management confers a variety of benefits to wildlife populations that are cooperatively managed by zoos and aquariums, including those managed through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Briefly, when management strategies are successful, they result in reproductively robust populations that better retain genetic diversity and limit inbreeding than unmanaged populations. Although the benefits of demographic and genetic management have been well documented throughout both the scientific and popular literature, it has also been established that the majority of managed populations in zoos and aquariums are not meeting the minimum criteria believed to convey long-term biological viability. For most of these populations, an inability to meet viability criteria is not an inherent failure of how cooperative management is implemented. Furthermore, in recent years, we have perceived that the need to meet specific viability goals sometimes has obscured the benefits that these populations receive from rigorous, science-based management. To better clarify the conversation surrounding population viability in zoos and aquariums, we seek to decouple viability measures and how they predict population persistence from the benefits conferred to populations through science-based management. A primary goal of population management is to facilitate the persistence of priority species for longer than would be expected if no such management were implemented. Although current viability measures and future projections of viability are important tools for assessing the likelihood of population persistence, they are not indicators of which populations may most benefit from science-based management. Here, we review the history and purpose of applying science-based management to zoo and aquarium populations, describe measures of population viability and caution against confusing those measures of viability with population management goals or long-term population sustainability, and clearly articulate the benefits conferred to zoo and aquarium populations by science-based management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea S Putnam
- Department of Exhibit-Curators, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Gina M Ferrie
- Disney's Animals, Science and Environment, Disney's Animal Kingdom®, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA
| | - Jamie A Ivy
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
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2
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Fontani S, Kaburu SSK, Marliani G, Accorsi PA, Vaglio S. Anogenital scent-marking signals fertility in a captive female Alaotran gentle lemur. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:940707. [PMID: 35967991 PMCID: PMC9366254 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.940707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The Lake Alaotra gentle lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis) is one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world and shows low success rate in captive breeding programmes. It is therefore vital to further understand its reproductive biology. We studied a captive troop consisting of five individuals hosted at Jersey Zoo during breeding and non-breeding periods over 1 year. We collected behavioural data (n = 318 h) using all occurrence of some behaviours and ad libitum sampling methods, as well as faecal (n = 54) and anogenital scent (n = 35) samples of the breeding female. We measured sex hormone levels using enzyme immunoassay technique and investigated the volatile component of odour signals using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We observed sexual and aggressive behaviours occasionally during the breeding period. Our regression analysis showed that only period significantly predicted rates of female anogenital scent-marking, whereby the female performed anogenital scent-marking more frequently during the breeding rather than the non-breeding period. In contrast, female hormone levels did not significantly explain variation in rates of neither male nor female olfactory, sexual and affiliative behaviours, suggesting that individuals' behaviour alone is not an effective indicator of the ovulation window. The volatile chemical profile of anogenital odour secretions changed over the study, with four compounds distinguishing the fertile window during the breeding period. In conclusion, our findings suggest that anogenital scent-marking may signal the reproductive status of captive female gentle lemurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Fontani
- Animal Behaviour and Wildlife Conservation Group, School of Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
| | - Stefano S. K. Kaburu
- Animal Behaviour and Wildlife Conservation Group, School of Medicine, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
| | - Giovanna Marliani
- Animal Behaviour and Wildlife Conservation Group, School of Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Universitá di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Pier Attilio Accorsi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Universitá di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Stefano Vaglio
- Animal Behaviour and Wildlife Conservation Group, School of Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
- Behavioural, Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Stefano Vaglio
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Tidière M, Douay G, Müller P, Siberchicot A, Sliwa A, Whipple M, Douhard M. Lifespan decreases with proportion of sons in males but not females of zoo-housed tigers and lemurs. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:1061-1070. [PMID: 33914999 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Several studies have shown higher costs of rearing sons than daughters in mammals where males are larger than females. These studies typically focus on females by examining how the offspring sex ratio during a single reproductive event affected mothers' subsequent reproduction or survival probability. Here, we examine relationships between offspring sex ratio during single or multiple reproductive events and several survival metrics in mothers and fathers, using data from zoo-housed tigers (Panthera tigris) and ruffed lemurs (Varecia sp.). Our analyses failed to reveal an overall cost of reproduction or a higher cost of sons to mothers. In male ruffed lemurs, the proportion of sons produced during early life (before 10 years old) was negatively correlated with lifespan later in life. In tigers, males with a higher proportion of sons during their lifetime had shorter lifespans. One likely mechanism is the difference in testosterone levels between males: a high concentration of testosterone can increase the proportion of sons and compromise immune function. Our results suggest studies in wild populations should address the outstanding challenge of understanding consequences of sex allocation for males, and open an opportunity to predict lifespan in an applied conservation context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Tidière
- Université de Lyon, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR5558 CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Guillaume Douay
- Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Conservation, Research and Veterinary Department, Singapore
| | | | - Aurélie Siberchicot
- Université de Lyon, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR5558 CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
| | | | | | - Mathieu Douhard
- Université de Lyon, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR5558 CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France
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Tidière M, Müller P, Sliwa A, Siberchicot A, Douay G. Sex-specific actuarial and reproductive senescence in zoo-housed tiger (Panthera tigris): The importance of sub-species for conservation. Zoo Biol 2021; 40:320-329. [PMID: 33861886 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
A fifth of all known species are currently classified as threatened in the wild: the rate of biodiversity loss is rapid, continuous, and mostly due to anthropogenic activities. To slow down this decline, the accurate estimation of demographic parameters for threatened species is critical. With this aim, zoo institutions play an important role, giving access to data on zoo-housed animals, which aids researchers working on species life-history traits and intrinsic factors influencing the fitness of both sexes, such as age. While tigers (Panthera tigris) are particularly threatened in their natural environment, few of their demographic parameters have been determined because of their solitary and elusive nature as well as low population density. Using individual-based information for more than 9200 tigers (from 1938 to 2018) recorded in the International Tiger Studbook 2018, we aimed to determine sub-species and sex-specific variability of survival and reproductive parameters with age. No significant sex-difference in actuarial senescence (i.e., decline of survival probabilities with age) was observed but males tended to have a higher juvenile mortality and a faster senescence than females. Reproductive senescence (i.e., decline of reproductive parameters with age) was more pronounced in females than males. Moreover, we observed sub-species-specific variation in mortality and reproductive patterns, pointing out the necessity to consider them independently for conservation goals. Our findings can provide meaningful improvements to the husbandry of zoo-housed tigers, emphasizing the importance of adult breeding females of 7-9 years-old to control zoo-housed population size, but also providing accurate demographic estimates, crucial to set up effective conservation plans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Tidière
- Conservation Science Alliance, Species360, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55425, USA.,Interdisciplinary Center on Population Dynamics, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | | | | | - Aurélie Siberchicot
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR5558 CNRS, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Guillaume Douay
- Conservation, Research, and Veterinary Department, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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Landes J, Henry P, Hardy I, Perret M, Pavard S. Female reproduction bears no survival cost in captivity for gray mouse lemurs. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:6189-6198. [PMID: 31236213 PMCID: PMC6580269 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The survival cost of reproduction has been revealed in many free-ranging vertebrates. However, recent studies on captive populations failed to detect this cost. Theoretically, this lack of survival/reproduction trade-off is expected when resources are not limiting, but these studies may have failed to detect the cost, as they may not have fully accounted for potential confounding effects, in particular interindividual heterogeneity. Here, we investigated the effects of current and past reproductive effort on later survival in captive females of a small primate, the gray mouse lemur. Survival analyses showed no cost of reproduction in females; and the pattern was even in the opposite direction: the higher the reproductive effort, the higher the chances of survival until the next reproductive event. These conclusions hold even while accounting for interindividual heterogeneity. In agreement with aforementioned studies on captive vertebrates, these results remind us that reproduction is expected to be traded against body maintenance and the survival prospect only when resources are so limiting that they induce an allocation trade-off. Thus, the cost of reproduction has a major extrinsic component driven by environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Landes
- Eco‐Anthropologie, UMR 7206CNRS, MNHN, Univ. Paris DiderotParisFrance
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution (MECADEV ‐ UMR 7179)CNRS, MNHNBrunoyFrance
- Département de Biologie, Faculté des SciencesUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuébecCanada
| | - Pierre‐Yves Henry
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution (MECADEV ‐ UMR 7179)CNRS, MNHNBrunoyFrance
| | - Isabelle Hardy
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution (MECADEV ‐ UMR 7179)CNRS, MNHNBrunoyFrance
| | - Martine Perret
- Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution (MECADEV ‐ UMR 7179)CNRS, MNHNBrunoyFrance
| | - Samuel Pavard
- Eco‐Anthropologie, UMR 7206CNRS, MNHN, Univ. Paris DiderotParisFrance
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Tidière M, Thevenot X, Deligiannopoulou A, Douay G, Whipple M, Siberchicot A, Gaillard JM, Lemaître JF. Maternal reproductive senescence shapes the fitness consequences of the parental age difference in ruffed lemurs. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20181479. [PMID: 30209228 PMCID: PMC6158536 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, pronounced age differences between parents have deleterious fitness consequences. In particular, the number of children is lower when mothers are much older than fathers. However, previous analyses failed to disentangle the influence of differential parental age per se from a direct age effect of each parent. In this study, we analyse the fitness consequences of both parental age and parental age differences on litter size and offspring survival in two closely related species of lemurs living in captivity. As captive lemurs do not choose their reproductive partner, we were able to measure litter size and offspring survival across breeding pairs showing a wide range of parental age differences. However, we demonstrated that the effect of the parental age difference on litter size was fully accounted for by female reproductive senescence because females mating with much younger males were old females. On the other hand, both parental age difference and female reproductive senescence influenced offspring survival. Our results emphasize the importance of teasing apart the effect of parental reproductive senescence when investigating the health and fitness consequences of parental age differences and also provide new insights for conservation programmes of endangered species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Tidière
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Xavier Thevenot
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Adamantia Deligiannopoulou
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Guillaume Douay
- Wildlife Reserve Singapore, 80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore 729826, Singapore
| | | | - Aurélie Siberchicot
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Jean-François Lemaître
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
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Ivimey-Cook E, Moorad J. Disentangling Pre- and Postnatal Maternal Age Effects on Offspring Performance in an Insect with Elaborate Maternal Care. Am Nat 2018; 192:564-576. [PMID: 30332586 DOI: 10.1086/699654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Maternal effect senescence has attracted much recent scientific interest. However, the age-related effects of pre- and postnatal maternal age are often conflated, as these naturally originate from the same individual. Additionally, many maternal effect senescence studies fail to account for potential biases associated with selective disappearance. Here we use a cross-fostered laboratory population of a burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, to examine both the effects of female pre- and postnatal maternal age on offspring life-history traits and the postcare outcomes of mothers while accounting for selective disappearance of postnatal caregivers. Neither pre- nor postnatal maternal age affected offspring longevity or larval weight at hatching, and postnatal age had no effect on postcare maternal outcomes except to confirm the presence of actuarial senescence. There was weak evidence for concave relationships between two larval traits (dispersal weight and survival) and the age of egg producers. Selective disappearance of caregivers had no clear effect on any of the measured offspring traits. Contrary to predictions from evolutionary theory, maternal effect senescence and reproductive effort increases do not always manifest, and current theory may be insufficient to account for the true diversity of aging patterns relating to maternal care.
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