1
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Holser RR, Crocker DE, Robinson PW, Condit R, Costa DP. Density-dependent effects on reproductive output in a capital breeding carnivore, the northern elephant seal ( Mirounga angustirostris). Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211258. [PMID: 34641731 PMCID: PMC8511744 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
All organisms face resource limitations that will ultimately restrict population growth, but the controlling mechanisms vary across ecosystems, taxa, and reproductive strategies. Using four decades of data, we examine how variation in the environment and population density affect reproductive outcomes in a capital-breeding carnivore, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris). This species provides a unique opportunity to examine the relative importance of resource acquisition and density-dependence on breeding success. Capital breeders accrue resources over large temporal and spatial scales for use during an abbreviated reproductive period. This strategy may have evolved, in part, to confer resilience to short-term environmental variability. We observed density-dependent effects on weaning mass, and maternal age (experience) was more important than oceanographic conditions or maternal mass in determining offspring weaning mass. Together these findings show that the mechanisms controlling reproductive output are conserved across terrestrial and marine systems and vary with population dynamics, an important consideration when assessing the effect of extrinsic changes, such as climate change, on a population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel R. Holser
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Daniel E. Crocker
- Department of Biology, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA
| | - Patrick W. Robinson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Richard Condit
- Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
- Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle, IL 60532, USA
| | - Daniel P. Costa
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, 130 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
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2
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Bright Ross JG, Newman C, Buesching CD, Macdonald DW. What lies beneath? Population dynamics conceal pace-of-life and sex ratio variation, with implications for resilience to environmental change. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:3307-3324. [PMID: 32243650 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Life-history and pace-of-life syndrome theory predict that populations are comprised of individuals exhibiting different reproductive schedules and associated behavioural and physiological traits, optimized to prevailing social and environmental factors. Changing weather and social conditions provide in situ cues altering this life-history optimality; nevertheless, few studies have considered how tactical, sex-specific plasticity over an individual's lifespan varies in wild populations and influences population resilience. We examined the drivers of individual life-history schedules using 31 years of trapping data and 28 years of pedigree for the European badger (Meles meles L.), a long-lived, iteroparous, polygynandrous mammal that exhibits heterochrony in the timing of endocrinological puberty in male cubs. Our top model for the effects of environmental (social and weather) conditions during a badger's first year on pace-of-life explained <10% of variance in the ratio of fertility to age at first reproduction (F/α) and lifetime reproductive success. Conversely, sex ratio (SR) and sex-specific density explained 52.8% (males) and 91.0% (females) of variance in adult F/α ratios relative to the long-term population median F/α. Weather primarily affected the sexes at different life-history stages, with energy constraints limiting the onset of male reproduction but playing a large role in female strategic energy allocation, particularly in relation to ongoing mean temperature increases. Furthermore, the effects of social factors on age of first reproduction and year-to-year reproductive success covaried differently with sex, likely due to sex-specific responses to potential mate availability. For females, low same-sex densities favoured early primiparity; for males, instead, up to 10% of yearlings successfully mated at high same-sex densities. We observed substantial SR dynamism relating to differential mortality of life-history strategists within the population, and propose that shifting ratios of 'fast' and 'slow' life-history strategists contribute substantially to population dynamics and resilience to changing conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julius G Bright Ross
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Chris Newman
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Christina D Buesching
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - David W Macdonald
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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3
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Badger JJ, Bowen WD, den Heyer CE, Breed GA. Variation in individual reproductive performance amplified with population size in a long‐lived carnivore. Ecology 2020; 101:e03024. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Revised: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Janelle J. Badger
- Department of Biolog y and Wildlife University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska756100 USA
| | - W. Don Bowen
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Bedford Institute of Oceanography 1 Challenger Dr Dartmouth Nova Scotia Canada
| | - Cornelia E. den Heyer
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Bedford Institute of Oceanography 1 Challenger Dr Dartmouth Nova Scotia Canada
| | - Greg A. Breed
- Department of Biolog y and Wildlife University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska756100 USA
- Institute of Arctic Biology University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska757000 USA
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4
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Tyler NJC, Gregorini P, Parker KL, Hazlerigg DG. Animal responses to environmental variation: physiological mechanisms in ecological models of performance in deer (Cervidae). ANIMAL PRODUCTION SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1071/an19418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Context
Proper assessment of the consequences of environmental variation on animals depends on our ability to predict how they will perform under different circumstances. This requires two kinds of information. We need to know which environmental factors influence animal performance and their mode of action, i.e. whether a given factor acts alone or through interaction with other factors, directly or indirectly, instantaneously or after a delay and so on. This essentially correlative process falls within the domain of ecology. We also need to know what determines the direction, amplitude and limits of animal responses to environmental variation and change. This essentially experimental process falls within the domain of physiology. Physiological mechanisms are frequently poorly integrated within the correlative framework of ecological models. This is evident where programmed responses are attributed to environmental forcing and where the effect of environmental factors is evaluated without reference to the physiological state and regulatory capacity of the animal on which they act.
Aims
Here we examine ways in which the impacts of external (environmental) stimuli and constraints on performance are moderated by the animals (deer) on which they impinge.
Key results
The analysis shows (1) how trade-offs in foraging behaviour, illustrated by the timing of activity under the threat of predation, are modulated by integration of short-term metabolic feedback and animal emotions that influence the motivation to feed, (2) how the influence of thermal and nutritional challenges on performance, illustrated by the effect of weather conditions during gestation on the body mass of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) calves at weaning, depends on the metabolic state of the female at the time the challenge occurs and (3) how annual cycles of growth, appetite and reproduction in seasonal species of deer are governed by innate circannual timers, such that their responses to seasonal changes in food supply are anticipatory and governed by rheostatic systems that adjust homeostatic set- points, rather than being purely reactive.
Conclusions
Concepts like ‘maintenance’ and ‘energy balance’, which were originally derived from non-seasonal domestic ruminants, are unable to account for annual cycles in metabolic and nutritional status in seasonal deer. Contrasting seasonal phenotypes (fat and anoestrous in summer, lean and oestrous in winter) represent adaptive solutions to the predictable challenges presented by contrasting seasonal environments, not failure of homeostasis in one season and its success in another.
Implications
The analysis and interpretation of responses to environment in terms of interaction between the external stimuli and the internal systems that govern them offer a more comprehensive, multifaceted understanding of the influence of environmental variation on performance in deer and open lines of ecological enquiry defined by non-intuitive aspects of animal function.
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5
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Paoli A, Weladji RB, Holand Ø, Kumpula J. Early‐life conditions determine the between‐individual heterogeneity in plasticity of calving date in reindeer. J Anim Ecol 2019; 89:370-383. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amélie Paoli
- Department of Biology Concordia University Montreal QC Canada
| | | | - Øystein Holand
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås Norway
| | - Jouko Kumpula
- Natural Resources Unit Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) Inari Finland
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6
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Ceacero F, Komárková M, García AJ, Gallego L. Different maternal investment strategies for male and female calves in a polygynous mammal. Curr Zool 2019; 65:269-277. [PMID: 31263485 PMCID: PMC6595534 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2017] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal effects occur when the phenotype of the mother influences that of the young to the detriment of her survival, growth or fitness. The investment of the mother can be affected by maternal body condition and/or experience. Trivers-Willard Hypothesis (TWH) and Local Resource Competition Hypothesis (LRCH) are the main hypotheses used to explain bias in birth sex-ratios in mammals, as well as for sex-biased maternal investment. Both hypotheses suggest that a different amount of investment must be expected according to the sex of the young. However, recent studies suggest that these differences are not in quantity but in the strategies: mechanisms and objectives may differ for each sex. We studied how maternal characteristics (age, body mass, body condition, and dominance status) influence relevant aspects of the birth and early growth of the calf (birth date, birth body mass, body mass at weaning, and body condition at weaning) separately for each sex; and how that investment is mediated by milk production and composition (lactose, fat, and protein). One hundred eighty-eight newborns from 75 captive red deer hinds aged from 2 to 19 years were analyzed. The main differential investment observed was related to birth date: when producing a female, hinds give birth earlier in the season only if they have a good body condition; however, when gestating a male it is the older hinds those which deliver earlier. Subsequently, milk production and composition are correlated with birth body mass in female calves, but to weaning body mass in males. Thus, only hind body mass affects the weaning body mass of female calves, compared with age and hind body mass in males. These results suggest that while TWH fits the maternal investment strategy found for male calves, it is LRCH which correlates with the maternal investment patterns observed for females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Ceacero
- Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Praha 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Martina Komárková
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, 104 01 Praha - Uhříněves, Czech Republic
| | - Andrés J García
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas—Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha—Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain
- Sección de Recursos Cinegéticos y Ganaderos, Instituto de Desarrollo Regional (IDR), Albacete, Spain
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología Agroforestal y Genética, ETSIAM, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Albacete, Spain
| | - Laureano Gallego
- Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología Agroforestal y Genética, ETSIAM, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Albacete, Spain
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7
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Higham JP, Dominy NJ. The promise of primatology fulfilled? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 166:783-790. [PMID: 30133694 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2018] [Revised: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
In 1972, Sherwood Washburn, one of the forerunners of biological anthropology, gave an invited address during the 4th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Portland, Oregon, in which he expounded his vision for the field of primatology. His address was published the following year in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and titled: "The promise of primatology." In this centennial commentary, we revisit Washburn's "promise", 45 years on. His address and article discuss the constraints acting on the field, including a positioning of the discipline across different kinds of university departments, and within the social sciences, which he viewed as a mixed blessing. Prescient aspects of Washburn's address include a focus on the need to study communication multimodally, and a hope that the study of mechanisms would become foundational within the field. We discuss new promising aspects of primatology, focusing on technological advances in a number of areas highlighted by Washburn that have ushered in new eras of research, and the increasingly large number of long-term field sites, which see the discipline well-set for new developmental and longitudinal studies. We find much to admire in Washburn's keen foresight, and natural intuition. Washburn hoped that primatology would repudiate the notion that "the social should be studied without reference to the biological." In this regard, we consider much of Washburn's promise fulfilled.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
| | - Nathaniel J Dominy
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755.,Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
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8
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Ecological factors affecting eruption timing of mandibular teeth in roe deer. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-018-1211-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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9
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Dupont P, Allainé D, Cohas A, Pradel R. Testing determinants of the annual individual fitness: An overall mean mixture model for de‐lifing data. Methods Ecol Evol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Dupont
- CNRSUMR 5558 ‘Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive’Université de LyonUniversité Lyon 1 Villeurbanne France
| | - Dominique Allainé
- CNRSUMR 5558 ‘Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive’Université de LyonUniversité Lyon 1 Villeurbanne France
| | - Aurélie Cohas
- CNRSUMR 5558 ‘Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive’Université de LyonUniversité Lyon 1 Villeurbanne France
| | - Roger Pradel
- CEFEUMR 5175CNRSUniversité de MontpellierUniversité Paul‐Valéry MontpellierEPHE Montpellier Cedex 5 France
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10
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Paterson JT, Rotella JJ, Mannas JM, Garrott RA. Patterns of age‐related change in reproductive effort differ in the pre‐natal and post‐natal periods in a long‐lived mammal. J Anim Ecol 2016; 85:1540-1551. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- John T. Paterson
- Ecology Department Montana State University Bozeman MT 59717 USA
| | - Jay J. Rotella
- Ecology Department Montana State University Bozeman MT 59717 USA
| | - Jennifer M. Mannas
- Ecology Department Montana State University Bozeman MT 59717 USA
- Progressive Animal Welfare Society Lynnwood WA 98046 USA
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11
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Doak P, Carroll CJ, Kielland K. Harvest of female moose at high density: modelling the impacts of harvest on population size and biomass yield. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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12
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Queirós J, Vicente J, Alves PC, de la Fuente J, Gortazar C. Tuberculosis, genetic diversity and fitness in the red deer, Cervus elaphus. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2016; 43:203-12. [PMID: 27245150 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2016] [Revised: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 05/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how genetic diversity, infections and fitness interact in wild populations is a major challenge in ecology and management. These interactions were addressed through heterozygosity-fitness correlation analyses, by assessing the genetic diversity, tuberculosis (TB) and body size in adult red deer. Heterozygosity-fitness correlation models provided a better understanding of the link between genetic diversity and TB at individual and population levels. A single local effect was found for Ceh45 locus at individual level, enhancing the importance of its close functional genes in determining TB presence. At population level, the ability of the red deer to control TB progression correlated positively with population genetic diversity, indicating that inbred populations might represent more risk of deer TB severity. Statistical models also gained insights into the dynamics of multi-host interaction in natural environments. TB prevalence in neighbouring wild boar populations was positively associated with deer TB at both individual and population levels. Additionally, TB presence correlated positively with red deer body size, for which "general and local effect" hypotheses were found. Although body size might be correlated with age, an indirect genetic effect on TB presence could be implied. This study provides new insights towards understanding host-pathogen interactions in wild populations and their relation to fitness traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Queirós
- Centro de Investigacão em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO)/InBio Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, R. Monte-Crasto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto (FCUP), Rua do Campo Alegre s⁄n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal; SaBio Research Group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - Joaquín Vicente
- SaBio Research Group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Paulo C Alves
- Centro de Investigacão em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO)/InBio Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, R. Monte-Crasto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto (FCUP), Rua do Campo Alegre s⁄n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal; Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - José de la Fuente
- SaBio Research Group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain; Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
| | - Christian Gortazar
- SaBio Research Group, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
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13
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Lange R, Marshall DJ. Propagule size and dispersal costs mediate establishment success of an invasive species. Ecology 2016; 97:569-75. [DOI: 10.1890/15-1573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rolanda Lange
- School of Biological Sciences Monash University Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Dustin J. Marshall
- School of Biological Sciences Monash University Clayton VIC 3800 Australia
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14
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Rotella JJ, Paterson JT, Garrott RA. Birth dates vary with fixed and dynamic maternal features, offspring sex, and extreme climatic events in a high-latitude marine mammal. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:1930-41. [PMID: 27099704 PMCID: PMC4831429 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2015] [Revised: 12/09/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproductive synchrony tends to be widespread in diverse species of plants and animals, especially at higher latitudes. However, for long‐lived mammals, birth dates for different individuals can vary by weeks within a population. A mother's birth timing can reveal useful information about her reproductive abilities and have important implications for the characteristics and survival of her offspring. Despite this, our current knowledge of factors associated with variation in birth dates is modest. We used long‐term data for known‐age Weddell seals in Antarctica and a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach to study how birth dates varied with fixed and temporally varying features of mothers, whether sex allocation varied with birth timing, and annual variation in birth dates. Based on birth dates for 4465 pups born to 1117 mothers aged 4–31, we found that diverse features of mothers were associated with variation in birth dates. Maternal identity was the most important among these. Unlike most studies, which have reported that birth dates occur earlier as mothers age, we found that birth dates progressively occurred earlier in the year in the early part of a mother's reproductive life, reached a minimum at age 16, and then occurred later at later ages. Birth dates were positively related to a mother's age at primiparity and recent reproductive effort. The earliest birth dates were for pups born to prime‐age mothers who did not reproduce in the previous year but began reproduction early in life, suggesting that females in the best condition gave birth earlier than others. If so, our finding that male pups tended to be born earlier than females provides support for the Trivers–Willard sex‐allocation model. Average birth dates were quite consistent across years, except for 2 years that had notable delays and occurred during the period when massive icebergs were present and disrupted the ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay J Rotella
- Ecology Department Montana State University Bozeman Montana 59717
| | | | - Robert A Garrott
- Ecology Department Montana State University Bozeman Montana 59717
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15
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Plard F, Gaillard JM, Coulson T, Delorme D, Warnant C, Michallet J, Tuljapurkar S, Krishnakumar S, Bonenfant C. Quantifying the influence of measured and unmeasured individual differences on demography. J Anim Ecol 2015; 84:1434-45. [PMID: 26140296 PMCID: PMC5642278 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2014] [Accepted: 05/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
1. Demographic rates can vary not only with measured individual characters like age, sex and mass but also with unmeasured individual variables like behaviour, genes and health. 2. Predictions from population models that include measured individual characteristics often differ from models that exclude them. Similarly, unmeasured individual differences have the potential to impact predictions from population models. However, unmeasured individual differences are rarely included in population models. 3. We construct stage- and age-structured models (where stage is mass) of a roe deer population, which are parameterized from statistical functions that either include, or ignore, unmeasured individual differences. 4. We found that mass and age structures substantially impacted model parameters describing population dynamics, as did temporal environmental variation, while unmeasured individual differences impacted parameters describing population dynamics to a much smaller extent once individual heterogeneity related to mass and age has been included in the model. We discuss how our assumptions (unmeasured individual differences only in mean trait values) could have influenced our findings and under what circumstances unmeasured individual differences could have had a larger impact on population dynamics. 5. There are two reasons explaining the relative small influence of unmeasured individual differences on population dynamics in roe deer. First, individual body mass and age both capture a large amount of individual differences in roe deer. Second, in large populations of long-lived animals, the average quality of individuals (independent of age and mass) within the population is unlikely to show substantial variation over time, unless rapid evolution is occurring. So even though a population consisting of high-quality individuals would have much higher population growth rate than a population consisting of low-quality individuals, the probability of observing a population consisting only of high-quality individuals is small.
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Affiliation(s)
- Floriane Plard
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
- Department of Biology, Stanford Univeristy, Herrin Labs 454, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Tim Coulson
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel Delorme
- Centre National d’Études et de Recherches Appliquées Cervidés-Sangliers, Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, 87 avenue de Wagram, 75008 Paris, France
| | - Claude Warnant
- Centre National d’Études et de Recherches Appliquées Cervidés-Sangliers, Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, 87 avenue de Wagram, 75008 Paris, France
| | - Jacques Michallet
- Centre National d’Études et de Recherches Appliquées Cervidés-Sangliers, Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, 87 avenue de Wagram, 75008 Paris, France
| | - Shripad Tuljapurkar
- Department of Biology, Stanford Univeristy, Herrin Labs 454, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | | | - Christophe Bonenfant
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
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16
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Ingram KK, Pilko A, Heer J, Gordon DM. Colony life history and lifetime reproductive success of red harvester ant colonies. J Anim Ecol 2013; 82:540-50. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2012] [Accepted: 11/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Krista K. Ingram
- Department of Biology; Colgate University; Hamilton; NY; 13346; USA
| | - Anna Pilko
- Department of Biology; Stanford University; Stanford; CA; 94305-5020; USA
| | - Jeffrey Heer
- Department of Computer Science; Stanford University; Stanford; CA; 94305-5020; USA
| | - Deborah M. Gordon
- Department of Biology; Stanford University; Stanford; CA; 94305-5020; USA
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Robert A, Paiva VH, Bolton M, Jiguet F, Bried J. The interaction between reproductive cost and individual quality is mediated by oceanic conditions in a long-lived bird. Ecology 2012; 93:1944-52. [PMID: 22928422 DOI: 10.1890/11-1840.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Environmental variability, costs of reproduction, and heterogeneity in individual quality are three important sources of the temporal and interindividual variations in vital rates of wild populations. Based on an 18-year monitoring of an endangered, recently described, long-lived seabird, Monteiro's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma monteiroi), we designed multistate survival models to separate the effects of the reproductive cost (breeders vs. nonbreeders) and individual quality (successful vs. unsuccessful breeders) in relation to temporally variable demographic and oceanographic properties. The analysis revealed a gradient of individual quality from nonbreeders, to unsuccessful breeders, to successful breeders. The survival rates of unsuccessful breeders (0.90 +/- 0.023, mean +/- SE) tended to decrease in years of high average breeding success and were more sensitive to oceanographic variation than those of both (high-quality) successful breeders (0.97 +/- 0.015) and (low-quality) nonbreeders (0.83 +/- 0.028). Overall, our results indicate that reproductive costs act on individuals of intermediate quality and are mediated by environmental harshness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Robert
- UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 55, Rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
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18
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Stopher KV, Walling CA, Morris A, Guinness FE, Clutton-Brock TH, Pemberton JM, Nussey DH. Shared spatial effects on quantitative genetic parameters: accounting for spatial autocorrelation and home range overlap reduces estimates of heritability in wild red deer. Evolution 2012; 66:2411-26. [PMID: 22834741 PMCID: PMC3437482 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01620.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2011] [Accepted: 01/29/2012] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Social structure, limited dispersal, and spatial heterogeneity in resources are ubiquitous in wild vertebrate populations. As a result, relatives share environments as well as genes, and environmental and genetic sources of similarity between individuals are potentially confounded. Quantitative genetic studies in the wild therefore typically account for easily captured shared environmental effects (e.g., parent, nest, or region). Fine-scale spatial effects are likely to be just as important in wild vertebrates, but have been largely ignored. We used data from wild red deer to build "animal models" to estimate additive genetic variance and heritability in four female traits (spring and rut home range size, offspring birth weight, and lifetime breeding success). We then, separately, incorporated spatial autocorrelation and a matrix of home range overlap into these models to estimate the effect of location or shared habitat on phenotypic variation. These terms explained a substantial amount of variation in all traits and their inclusion resulted in reductions in heritability estimates, up to an order of magnitude up for home range size. Our results highlight the potential of multiple covariance matrices to dissect environmental, social, and genetic contributions to phenotypic variation, and the importance of considering fine-scale spatial processes in quantitative genetic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie V Stopher
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, United Kingdom.
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19
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Shelton AO, Mangel M. Estimating von Bertalanffy parameters with individual and environmental variations in growth. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 2012; 6 Suppl 2:3-30. [PMID: 22882022 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2012.697195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Variation among individuals is an ubiquitous feature of natural populations. However, the relative roles of intrinsic individual differences and stochastic processes in generating variation remain poorly understood. For somatic growth, identifying the contribution of individual and stochastic processes to observed variation in size has important implications both for basic and applied biology. Here we propose and develop methods for estimating individual variation in growth using size-at-age data. We modify the von Bertalanffy growth model to explicitly incorporate individual, environmental, and stochastic variation and provide analytic expressions for the mean and variance of length-at-age in populations. We use a Bayesian statistical model to estimate individual variation from length-at-age data and apply the model to simulated data to test its efficacy. Although a first step towards understanding individual variation, we demonstrate that estimating individual variation from observational samples is possible and provide a platform for future analytical and statistical developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew O Shelton
- Center for Stock Assessment Research, University of California, Mail Stop SOE-2, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
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20
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Taillon J, Brodeur V, Festa-Bianchet M, Côté S. Is mother condition related to offspring condition in migratory caribou (Rangifer tarandus) at calving and weaning? CAN J ZOOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1139/z2012-001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Maternal characteristics can affect offspring traits, yet they are seldom included when considering density dependence of juvenile traits and population dynamics. We quantified the influence of population size and maternal traits on body condition of migratory caribou ( Rangifer tarandus (L., 1758)) calves at birth and weaning. We contrasted female–calf pairs of the Rivière-George (RG) herd, which has recently declined to low population size, with pairs of the much larger Rivière-aux-Feuilles (RAF) herd. Calves of the RAF herd were lighter, smaller, and leaner than calves of the RG herd at both birth and weaning. Differences between herds, however, were much greater at weaning than at calving, suggesting a combined effect of herd size and summer range conditions on calf growth. Maternal mass was positively related to calf body condition during both periods. The positive influence of maternal mass on calf body condition was greater for RAF than RG calves at birth, but it was similar for the two herds at weaning. Our results show that the negative effect of population size on calf body condition can be modulated by maternal mass at calving, and that the positive effect of maternal mass is greater at weaning.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Taillon
- Département de biologie et Centre d’études nordiques, Pavillon Vachon, 1045 avenue de la Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - V. Brodeur
- Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, Direction de l’expertise ÉFFMT du Nord-du-Québec, Nord-du-Québec, Chibougamau, QC G8P 2Z3, Canada
| | - M. Festa-Bianchet
- Département de biologie et Centre d’études nordiques, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - S.D. Côté
- Département de Biologie et Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
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21
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Burgess SC, Marshall DJ. Are numbers enough? Colonizer phenotype and abundance interact to affect population dynamics. J Anim Ecol 2011; 80:681-7. [PMID: 21250991 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01802.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Scott C Burgess
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.
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22
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Bergeron P, Baeta R, Pelletier F, Réale D, Garant D. Individual quality: tautology or biological reality? J Anim Ecol 2010; 80:361-4. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01770.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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23
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Berkeley EV, Linklater WL. Annual and Seasonal Rainfall May Influence Progeny Sex Ratio in the Black Rhinoceros. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.3957/056.040.0102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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24
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What is individual quality? An evolutionary perspective. Trends Ecol Evol 2009; 25:207-14. [PMID: 19897275 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 272] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2009] [Revised: 10/09/2009] [Accepted: 10/12/2009] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
In studies of population ecology, demography and life history evolution, among-individual differences in traits associated with survival and reproduction are often attributed to variation in 'individual quality'. However, often intuitive quality is rarely defined explicitly, and we argue that this can result in ambiguity about what quality actually is. Here we consider the various ways in which the concept of quality is currently applied, and show that subtle differences in intended meaning have very important consequences when the goal is to draw evolutionary inferences. We also propose a novel approach that is consistent with all current ecological uses, but also allows the concept of quality to be integrated with existing evolutionary theory.
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Lescroël A, Dugger KM, Ballard G, Ainley DG. Effects of individual quality, reproductive success and environmental variability on survival of a long-lived seabird. J Anim Ecol 2009; 78:798-806. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01542.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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26
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Lewis S, Elston DA, Daunt F, Cheney B, Thompson PM. Effects of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on breeding success in a long lived seabird. OIKOS 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2008.17308.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
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27
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Moyes K, Morgan BJT, Morris A, Morris SJ, Clutton-Brock TH, Coulson T. Exploring individual quality in a wild population of red deer. J Anim Ecol 2009; 78:406-13. [PMID: 19021783 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01497.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Moyes
- Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.
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