Evolutionary ecology of human birth sex ratio under the compound influence of climate change, famine, economic crises and wars

Journal of Animal Ecology

Volumn 78, Issue 6, 2009, Pages 1226-1233

  Helle, Samuli ^a   Helama, Samuli ^b   Lertola, Kalle ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TURKU   (Finland)

^b UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI   (Finland)

Author keywords

Economics; Infant mortality; Natural selection; Temperature; Time series analysis; War

Indexed keywords

ADAPTATION; ANNUAL VARIATION; CIVIL WAR; CLIMATE CHANGE; CLIMATE EFFECT; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; ECONOMIC IMPACT; EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY; FAMINE; INFANT MORTALITY; SEX RATIO; SURVIVAL; TEMPERATURE EFFECT; TIME SERIES ANALYSIS;

ARTICLE; CLIMATE CHANGE; EVOLUTION; FEMALE; FINLAND; GENETIC SELECTION; HISTORY; HUMAN; MALE; POPULATION DYNAMICS; SEX RATIO; STARVATION; WAR;

CLIMATE CHANGE; EVOLUTION; FEMALE; FINLAND; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 21ST CENTURY; HUMANS; MALE; POPULATION DYNAMICS; SELECTION, GENETIC; SEX RATIO; STARVATION; WAR;

EURASIA; EUROPE; FINLAND; NORTHERN EUROPE; SCANDINAVIA;

EID: 70349922865     PISSN: 00218790     EISSN: 13652656     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01598.x     Document Type: Article

References (73)

1. Abu-Musa, A.A., Nassar, A.H., Hannoun, A.B. Usta, I.M. (2007) Effect of the Lebanese civil war on sperm parameters. Fertility Sterility, 88, 1579 1582.
2. Andersson, R. Bergstrom, S. (1998) Is maternal malnutrition associated with a low sex ratio at birth? Human Biology, 70, 1101 1106.
3. Bereczkei, T. Dunbar, R.I.M. (1997) Female-biased reproductive strategies in a Hungarian Gypsy population. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 264, 17 22.
4. Biggar, R.J., Wohlfahrt, J., Westergaard, T. Melbye, M. (1999) Sex ratios, family size and birth order. American Journal of Epidemiology, 150, 957 962.
5. Bisioli, C. (2004) Sex ratio of births conceived during wartime. Human Reproduction, 19, 218 219.
6. Bonier, F., Martin, P.R. Wingfield, J.C. (2007) Maternal corticosteroids influence primary offspring sex ratio in a free-ranging passerine bird. Behavioral Ecology, 18, 1045 1050.
7. Boone, J.L. III. (1988) Parental investment, social subordination, and population processes among the 15th and 16th century Portuguese nobility. Human Reproductive Behaviour: A Darwinian Perspective (eds L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder P. Turke 201 219. Cambrigde University Press, Cambrigde.
8. Brocklebank, J.C. Dickey, D.A. (2003) SAS® for Forecastinf Time Series, 2nd edn. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.
9. Brohan, P., Kennedy, J.J., Harris, I., Tett, S.F.B. Jones, P.D. (2006) Uncertainty estimates in regional and global observed temperature changes: a new dataset from 1850. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, D12106.
10. Bruckner, T. Catalano, R. (2007) The sex ratio and age-specific male mortality: evidence for culling in utero. American Journal of Human Biology, 19, 763 773.
11. Cagnacci, A., Renzi, A., Arangino, S., Alessandrini, C. Volpe, A. (2004) Influences of maternal weight on the secondary sex ratio of human offspring. Human Reproduction, 19, 442 444.
12. Catalano, R. (2003) Sex ratios in the two Germanies: a test of the economic stress hypothesis. Human Reproduction, 9, 1972 1975.
13. Catalano, R. Bruckner, T. (2005) Economic antecedents of the Swedish sex ratio. Social Science and Medicine, 60, 537 543. (Pubitemid 39506804)
14. Catalano, R. Bruckner, T. (2006) Secondary sex ratios and male lifespan: damaged or culled cohorts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, 103, 1639 1643.
15. Catalano, R., Bruckner, T., Anderson, E. Gould, J.B. (2005a) Fetal death sex ratios: a test of the socioeconomic stress hypothesis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 34, 944 948.
16. Catalano, R., Bruckner, T., Gould, J.B., Eskenazi, B. Anderson, E. (2005b) Sex ratios in California following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Human Reproduction, 20, 1221 1227.
17. Catalano, R., Bruckner, T., Hartig, T. Ong, M. (2005c) Population stress and the Swedish sex ratio. Perinatal Epidemiology, 19, 413 420. (Pubitemid 41687393)
18. Catalano, R., Bruckner, T., Marks, A.R. Eskenazi, B. (2006) Exogenous shocks to the human sex ratio: the case of September 11, 2001 in New York City. Human Reproduction, 21, 3127 3131.
19. Catalano, R., Bruckner, T. Smith, K.R. (2008) Ambient temperature predicts sex ratios and male longevity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, 105, 2244 2247.
20. Chahnazarian, A. (1988) Determinants of the sex ratio at birth: review of recent literature. Social Biology, 35, 214 235.
21. Davis, D.L., Gottlieb, M.B. Stampnitzky, J.R. (1998) Reduced ratio of male to female births in several industrial countries: a sentinel health indicator. JAMA, 279, 1018 1023.
22. De Rensis, F. Scaramuzzi, R.J. (2003) Heat stress and seasonal effects on reproduction in the dairy cow - a review. Theriogenology, 60, 1139 1151.
23. Denny, K. (2008) Big and tall parents do not have more sons. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 250, 752 753.
24. Dravenstedt, G.L., Crimmins, E.M., Vasunilashorn, S. Finch, C.E. (2008) The rise and fall of excess male infant mortality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, 105, 5016 5021.
25. Edwards, A.W.F. (1962) Genetics and the human sex ratio. Advances in Genetics, 11, 239 272.
26. Fukuda, M., Fukuda, K., Shimizu, T., Yomura, W. Shimizu, S. (1996) Kobe earthquake and reduced sperm motility. Human Reproduction, 11, 1124 1246.
27. Fukuda, M., Fukuda, K., Shimizu, T. Møller, H. (1998) Decline in sex ratio at birth after Kobe earthquake. Human Reproduction, 13, 2321 2322.
28. Gibson, M.A. Mace, R. (2003) Strong mothers bear more sons in rural Ethiopia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B (Suppl.), 270, S108 S109.
29. Gille, H. (1949) The demographic history of the northern European countries in the eighteenth century. Population Studies, 3, 3 65.
30. Grant, V.J. Irwin, R.J. (2005) Follicular fluid steroid levels and subsequent sex of bovine embryos. Journal of Experimental Zoology: Part A, 303A, 1120 1125.
31. Grant, V.J., Irwin, R.J., Standley, N.T., Shelling, A.N. Chamley, L.N. (2008) Sex of bovine embryos may be related to mother's preovulatory follicular testosterone. Biology of Reproduction, 78, 812 815.
32. Grech, V., Savonna-Ventura, C. Vassallo-Agius, P. (2002) Unexplained differences in sex ratios at birth in Europe and North America. British Medical Journal, 324, 1010 1011.
33. Hansen, D., Møller, H. Olsen, J. (1999) Severe periconceptional life events and the sex ratio in offspring: follow up study based on five national registers. British Medical Journal, 319, 548 549.
34. Helle, S. (2008) Height, weight, and body mass index and offspring sex at birth in contemporary Finnish women. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 252, 773 775.
35. Helle, S., Helama, S. Jokela, J. (2008a) Temperature-related birth sex ratio bias in historical Sami: warm years bring more sons. Biology Letters, 4, 60 62.
36. Helle, S., Käär, P., Helama, S. Jokela, J. (2008b) Do humans adjust offspring sex according to local operational sex ratio? Evolutionary Ecology Research, 10, 1 11.
37. Hesket, T. Xing, Z.W. (2006) Abnormal sex ratios in human populations: causes and consequences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA, 103, 13271 13275.
38. Hjerppe, R. (1989) The Finnish Economy 1860-1985: Growth and Structural Change. Bank of Finland, Helsinki.
39. James, W.H. (1987) The human sex ratio. Part 1: A review of the literature. Human Biology, 59, 721 752.
40. James, W.H. (2003) Sex ratios of births conceived during wartime. Human Reproduction, 18, 1133 1134.
41. James, W.H. (2009) The variations of human sex ratio at birth during and after wars, and their potential explanations. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 257, 116 123.
42. Jones, J.H. (in press) The force of selection on the human life cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior.
43. Kanazawa, S. (2007) Big and tall soldiers are more likely to survive battle: a possible explanation for the 'returning soldier effect' on the sex secondary sex ratio. Human Reproduction, 22, 3002 3008.
44. Kemkes, A. (2006) Secondary sex ratio variation during stressful times: the impact of French revolutionary wars on a German parish (1787-1802). American Journal of Human Biology, 18, 806 821.
45. Lazarus, J. (2002) Human sex ratios: adaptations and mechanisms, problems and prospects. Sex Ratios: Concepts and Research Methods (eds I.C.W. Hardy 287 311. Cambrigde University Press, Cambrigde.
46. Lerchl, A. (1999) Sex ratios at birth and environmental temperatures. Naturwissenschaften, 86, 340 342.
47. Love, O.P., Chin, E.H., Wynne-Edwards, K.E. Williams, T.D. (2005) Stress hormones: a link between maternal condition and sex-biased reproductive investment. American Naturalist, 166, 751 766.
48. Lummaa, V. Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2002) Early development, survival and reproduction in humans. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17, 141 147.
49. Lummaa, V., Merilä, J. Kause, A. (1998) Adaptive sex ratio variation in pre-industrial human (Homo sapiens) populations? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 265, 563 568.
50. Lyster, W.R. (1974) Altered sex ratio after the London smog of 1952 and the Brisbane flood of 1965. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Commonwealth, 81, 626 631.
51. Mathews, F., Johnson, P.J. Neil, A. (2008) You are what your mother eats: evidence for maternal preconception diet influencing foetal sex in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 275, 1661 1668.
52. Mittwoch, U. (2005) Sex is a treshold dichotomy mimicking a single gene effect. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 22, 96 100.
53. Møller, H. (1996) Change in male:female ratio among newborn infants in Denmark. Lancet, 348, 828 829.
54. Myers, P., Master, L.L. Garrett, R.A. (1985) Ambient temperature and rainfall: an effect on sex ratio and litter size in deer mice. Journal of Mammalogy, 66, 289 298.
55. Obel, C., Henriksen, T.B., Secher, N.J., Eskenazi, B. Hedegaard, M. (2007) Psychological distress during early gestation and offspring sex ratio. Human Reproduction, 22, 3009 3012.
56. Pérez-Crespo, M., Pintado, B. Gutiérrez-Adán, A. (2008) Scrotal heat stress effects on sperm viability, sperm DNA integrity, and the offspring sex ratio in mice. Molecular Reproduction and Development, 75, 40 47.
57. Pike, T.W. Petrie, M. (2006) Experimental evidence that corticosterone affects offspring sex ratios in quail. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 273, 1093 1098.
58. Pitkänen, K.J. Mielke, J.H. (1993) Age and sex differentials in mortality during two nineteenth century population crises. European Journal of Population, 9, 1 32.
59. Post, E., Forschhammer, M.C., Stenseth, N.C. Lagnvatn, R. (1999) Extrinsic modification of vertebrate sex ratios by climatic variation. American Naturalist, 154, 194 204.
60. Roche, J.R., Lee, J.M. Berry, D.P. (2006) Climatic factors and secondary sex ratio in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 89, 3221 3227.
61. Saadat, M. (2008) Decline in sex ratio at birth after Bam (Kerman Province, Southern Iran) earthquake. Journal of Biosocial Sciences, 40, 935 937.
62. Sarre, S.D., Georges, A. Quinn, A. (2004) The ends of a continuum: genetic and temperature-dependent sex determination in reptiles. BioEssays, 26, 639 645.
63. Statistics Finland (2007) Statistical Yearbook of Finland. Statistics Finland, Helsinki.
64. Stein, A.D., Zybert, P.A. Lumey, L.H. (2004) Acute undernutrition is not associated with excess of females at birth in humans: the Dutch hunger winter. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Series B (Suppl.), 271, S138 S141.
65. Teitelbaum, M. (1970) Factors affecting the sex ratio in large populations. Journal of Biosocial Sciences Supplement, 2, 61 71.
66. Trivers, R.L. (1985) Social Evolution. Benjamin-Cummings, Menlo Park.
67. Trivers, R.L. Willard, D.E. (1973) Natural selection of parental ability to vary the sex ratio of offspring. Science, 191, 249 263.
68. Vartiainen, T., Kartovaara, L. Tuomisto, J. (1999) Environmental chemicals and changes in sex ratio: analysis over 250 years in Finland. Environmental Health Perspectives, 107, 813 815.
69. Wells, J. (2000) Natural selection and sex differences in morbidity and mortality in early life. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 202, 65 76.
70. Wild, G. West, S.A. (2007) A sex allocation theory for vertebrates: combining local resource competition and condition-dependent allocation. American Naturalist, 170, 112 128.
71. Williams, R.J. Gloster, S.P. (1992) Human sex-ratio as it relates to caloric availability. Social Biology, 39, 285 291.
72. Wolfenson, D., Roth, Z. Meidan, R. (2000) Impaired reproduction in heat-stressed cattle: basic and applied aspects. Animal Reproduction Science, 60-61, 535 547.
73. Yaffee, R.A. McGee, M. (2000) Introduction to Time Series Analysis and Forecasting with Applications of SAS and SPSS. Academic Press Inc., San Diego, CA.