Conservative maternal care in an iteroparous mammal: a resource allocation experiment |
| |
Authors: | Jean-François Therrien Steeve D Côté Marco Festa-Bianchet Jean-Pierre Ouellet |
| |
Institution: | (1) Département de biologie et Centre d’études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1K 7P4, Canada;(2) Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R1, Canada;(3) Département de biologie et Centre d’études nordiques, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 300 Allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, G5L 3A1, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | When resources are limited, life history theory predicts a trade-off between growth, reproduction and survival. In summer,
lactating females of temperate large herbivores such as the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) normally have access to abundant forage but also face the high energetic needs of lactation and recovery from winter mass
loss. At high population density, however, females may face a trade-off between allocating resources for maintenance and for
reproduction. To simulate the effects of increased intra-specific competition at high density, we measured for 2 years how
an experimental food restriction of approximately 20% affected current reproduction and body mass changes of adult females
and their fawns during the fawning and lactation periods. Fawn survival decreased 35%, and fawn growth decreased 26% in the
food-restricted treatment. There was no effect of food restriction on female mass. Irrespective of treatment, however, lactating
females gained 30 g/day less than non-lactating females, and females that had weaned a fawn the previous year gained 20 g/day
less than females that had not. We conclude that when resources were scarce, females adopted a conservative strategy favouring
their own survival, mass recovery and future reproductive potential over their current reproduction, probably to maximise
their lifetime reproductive success. |
| |
Keywords: | Maternal care Growth Reproduction Body mass White-tailed deer |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|