Spring-loaded reproduction: Effects of body condition and population size on fertility in migratory caribou (Rangifer tarandus)

Canadian Journal of Zoology

Volumn 91, Issue 7, 2013, Pages 473-479

  Pachkowski, M ^a,c   Cote S D ^b   Festa Bianchet, M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITÉ DE SHERBROOKE   (Canada)

^b CENTRE D ÉTUDES NORDIQUES   (Canada)

^c NONE   (Canada)

Author keywords

Body condition; Fertility; Migratory caribou; Population size; Rangifer tarandus

Indexed keywords

ADULT; BODY CONDITION; BODY MASS; DEER; FECUNDITY; FEMALE BEHAVIOR; FERTILITY; MIGRATORY SPECIES; POPULATION DECLINE; POPULATION SIZE; PREGNANCY; PROBABILITY; REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR; SEASONAL VARIATION;

CANADA; LABRADOR; NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR; QUEBEC [CANADA];

EID: 84879747206     PISSN: 00084301     EISSN: 14803283     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2012-0334     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Adams, L.G. 2005. Effects of maternal characteristics and climatic variation on birth masses of Alaskan caribou. J. Mammal. 86: 506-513. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2005)86[506:EOMCAC]2.0.CO;2.
2. Adams, L.G., and Dale, B.W. 1998. Reproductive performance of female Alaskan caribou. J. Wildl. Manage. 62: 1184-1195. doi:10.2307/3801982.
3. Albon, S.D., Mitchell, B., and Staines, B.W. 1983. Fertility and body weight in female red deer: a density-dependent relationship. J. Anim. Ecol. 52: 969-980. doi:10.2307/4467.
4. Albon, S.D., Stien, A., Irvine, R.J., Langvatn, R., Ropstad, E., and Halvorsen, O. 2002. The role of parasites in the dynamics of a reindeer population. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 1500: 1625-1632. doi:10.1098/rspb.2002.2064.
5. Allaye Chan-McLeod, A.C., White, R.G., and Russell, D.E. 1999. Comparative body composition strategies of breeding and nonbreeding female caribou. Can. J. Zool. 77(12): 1901-1907. doi:10.1139/z99-169.
6. Arneberg, P., Skorping, A., Grenfell, B., and Read, A.F. 1998. Host densities as determinants of abundance in parasite communities. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 265(1403): 1283-1289. doi:10.1098/rspb.1998.0431.
7. Bårdsen, B.-J., Fauchald, P., Tveraa, T., Langeland, K., Yoccoz, N.G., and Ims, R.A. 2008. Experimental evidence of a risk-sensitive reproductive allocation in a long-lived mammal. Ecology, 89: 829-837. doi:10.1890/07-0414.1. PMID:18459345.
8. Bårdsen, B.-J., Fauchald, P., Tveraa, T., Langeland, K., and Nieminen, M. 2009. Experimental evidence of cost of lactation in a low risk environment for a long-lived mammal. Oikos, 118(6): 837-852. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2008.17414.x.
9. Brotton, J., and Wall, G. 1997. Climate change and the Bathurst caribou herd in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Clim. Change, 35(1): 35-52. doi:10.1023/A:1005313315265.
10. Burnham, K.P., and Anderson, D.R. 2002. Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. 2nd ed. Springer- Verlag, New York.
11. Cameron, R.D., and Hoef, J.M.V. 1994. Predicting parturition rate of caribou from autumn body mass. J. Wildl. Manage. 58: 674-679. doi:10.2307/3809681.
12. Cameron, R.D., Smith, W.T., Fancy, S.G., Gerhart, K.L., and White, R.G. 1993. Calving success of female caribou in relation to body weight. Can. J. Zool. 71(3): 480-486. doi:10.1139/z93-069.
13. Clutton-Brock, T.H., Guinness, F.E., and Albon, S.D. 1982. Red deer: behavior and ecology of two sexes. University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
14. Couturier, S., Côté, S.D., Huot, J., and Otto, R.D. 2009a. Body-condition dynamics in a northern ungulate gaining fat in winter. Can. J. Zool. 87(5): 367-378. doi:10.1139/Z09-020.
15. Couturier, S., Côté, S.D., Otto, R.D., Weladji, R.B., and Huot, J. 2009b. Variation in calf body mass in migratory caribou: the role of habitat, climate, and movements. J. Mammal. 90(2): 442-452. doi:10.1644/07-MAMM-A-279.1.
16. Couturier, S., Otto, R.D., Côté, S.D., Luther, G., and Mahoney, S.P. 2010. Body size variations in caribou ecotypes and relationships with demography. J. Wildl. Manage. 74(3): 395-404. doi:10.2193/2008-384.
17. Crête, M., and Huot, J. 1993. Regulation of a large herd of migratory caribou: summer nutrition affects calf growth and body reserves of dams. Can. J. Zool. 71(11): 2291-2296. doi:10.1139/z93-321.
18. Crête, M., Huot, J., Nault, R., and Patenaude, R. 1993. Reproduction, growth and body composition of Rivière George caribou in captivity. Arctic, 46: 189-196.
19. Crête, M., Couturier, S., Hearn, B.J., and Chubbs, T.E. 1996. Relative contribution of decreased productivity and survival to recent changes in the demographic trend of the Rivière George caribou herd. Rangifer, 9: 27-36. doi:10.7557/2.16.4.1217.
20. Cuyler, C., and Østergaard, J.B. 2005. Fertility in two West Greenland caribou Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus populations during 1996/97: potential for rapid growth. Wildl. Biol. 11(3): 221-227. doi:10.2981/0909-6396(2005)11[221:FITWGC]2.0.CO;2.
21. Dauphiné, T.C., and McClure, R.L. 1974. Synchronous mating in Canadian barren-ground caribou. J. Wildl. Manage. 38: 54-66. doi:10.2307/3800200.
22. Eberhardt, L.L. 2002. A paradigm for population analysis of long-lived vertebrates. Ecology, 83: 2841-2854. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2002)083[2841:APFPAO]2.0.CO;2.
23. Festa-Bianchet, M. 1988. Age-specific reproduction of bighorn ewes in Alberta, Canada. J. Mammal. 69: 157-160. doi:10.2307/1381764.
24. Festa-Bianchet, M., and Côté, S.D. 2008. Mountain goats: ecology, behavior and conservation of a mountain ungulate. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
25. Festa-Bianchet, M., Gaillard, J.-M., and Jorgenson, J.T. 1998. Mass- and densitydependent reproductive success and reproductive costs in a capital breeder. Am. Nat. 152: 367-379. doi:10.1086/286175. PMID:18811445.
26. Gaillard, J.-M., Festa-Bianchet, M., Yoccoz, N.G., Loison, A., and Toïgo, C. 2000. Temporal variation in fitness components and population dynamics of large herbivores. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31: 367-393. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.31.1.367.
27. Gerhart, K.L., Russell, D.E., Van DeWetering, D., White, R.G., and Cameron, R.D. 1997. Pregnancy of adult caribou (Rangifer tarandus): evidence for lactational infertility. J. Zool. (Lond.), 242: 17-30. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb02926.x.
28. Harder, J.D., and Kirkpatrick, R.L. 1994. Physiological methods in wildlife research. In Research and management techniques for wildlife and habitats. 5th ed. Edited by T.A. Bookhout. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Md.
29. Hughes, J., Albon, S.D., Irvine, R.J., and Woodin, S. 2009. Is there a cost of parasites to caribou? Parasitology, 136(2): 253-265. doi:10.1017/S0031182008005246. PMID:19102793.
30. Huot, J. 1989. Body composition of the George River caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in fall and late winter. Can. J. Zool. 67(1): 103-107. doi:10.1139/z89-016.
31. Huot, J., and Picard, G. 1988. A simplified method for assessment of caribou body composition. J. Wildl. Manage. 52(4): 606-609. doi:10.2307/3800916.
32. Jorgenson, J.T., Festa-Bianchet, M., Lucherini, M., and Wishart, W.D. 1993. Effects of body size, population density, and maternal characteristics on age of first reproduction in bighorn ewes. Can. J. Zool. 71(12): 2509-2517. doi:10.1139/z93- z344.
33. Macdonald, D.W., Newman, C., Nouvellet, P.M., and Buesching, C.D. 2009. An analysis of Eurasian badger (Meles meles) population dynamics: implications for regulatory mechanisms. J. Mammal. 90(6): 1392-1403. doi:10.1644/08- MAMM-A-356R1.1.
34. Martin, J.G.A., and Festa-Bianchet, M. 2010. Bighorn ewes transfer the costs of reproduction to their lambs. Am. Nat. 176(4): 414-423. doi:10.1086/656267. PMID:20735260.
35. McCullagh, P., and Nelder, J.A. 1989. Generalized linear models. Chapman and Hall, London.
36. Miller, F.L. 1974. Age determination of caribou by annulations in dental cementum. J. Wildl. Manage. 38(1): 47-53. doi:10.2307/3800199.
37. Morneau, C., and Payette, S. 2000. Long-term fluctuations of a caribou population revealed by tree-ring data. Can. J. Zool. 78(10): 1784-1790. doi:10.1139/z00-122.
38. Ouellet, J.-P., Heard, D.C., Boutin, S., and Mulders, R. 1997. A comparison of body condition and reproduction of caribou on two predator-free arctic islands. Can. J. Zool. 75(1): 11-17. doi:10.1139/z97-002.
39. Parker, G.R. 1980. Physical and reproductive parameters of pre-calving caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in northern Labrador. Canadian Wildlife Service Report, Sackville, N.B.
40. Post, E., and Stenseth, N.C. 1999. Climatic variability, plant phenology, and northern ungulates. Ecology, 80: 1322-1339. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[1322:CVPPAN]2.0.CO;2.
41. Promislow, D.E.L., and Harvey, P.H. 1990. Living fast and dying young: a comparative analysis of life-history variation among mammals. J. Zool. (Lond.), 220: 417-437. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1990.tb04316.x.
42. R Development Core Team. 2010. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Version 2.12.1 [computer program]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.
43. Reimers, E. 1983. Reproduction in wild reindeer in Norway. Can. J. Zool. 61(1): 211-217. doi:10.1139/z83-026.
44. Riney, T. 1955. Evaluating condition of free-ranging red deer with special reference to New Zealand. N.Z. J. Sci. Technol. 36(B): 429-463.
45. Ropstad, E. 2000. Reproduction in female reindeer. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 60-61: 561-570. doi:10.1016/S0378-4320(00)00100-7. PMID:10844224.
46. Russell, D.E., Gerhart, K.L., White, R.G., and Van De Wetering, D. 1998. Detection of early pregnancy in caribou: evidence for embryonic mortality. J. Wildl. Manage. 62: 1066-1075. doi:10.2307/3802559.
47. Sand, H., Bergström, R., Cederlund, G., Ölstergren, M., and Stålfelt, F. 1996. Density-dependent variation in reproduction and body mass in female moose Alces alces. Wildl. Biol. 2(4): 233-245.
48. Solberg, E.J., Jordhøy, P., Strand, O., Aanes, R., Loison, A., Sæther, B.-E., and Linnell, J.D.C. 2001. Effects of density-dependence and climate on the dynamics of a Svalbard reindeer population. Ecography, 24(4): 441-451. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0587.2001.d01-200.x.
49. Stearns, S.C. 1992. The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
50. Stien, A., Irvine, R.J., Ropstad, E., Halvorsen, O., Langvatn, R., and Albon, S.D. 2002. The impact of gastrointestinal nematodes on wild reindeer: experimental and cross-sectional studies. J. Anim. Ecol. 71(6): 937-945. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2002.00659.x.
51. Taillon, J., Brodeur, V., Festa-Bianchet, M., and Côté, S.D. 2011. Variation in body condition of migratory caribou at calving and weaning: which measures should we use? Ecoscience, 19: 295-303. doi:10.2980/18-3-3447.
52. Taillon, J., Brodeur, V., Festa-Bianchet, M., and Côté, S.D. 2012. Is mother condition related to offspring condition? Can. J. Zool. 90(3): 393-402. doi:10.1139/z2012-001.
53. Testa, J.W., and Adams, G.P. 1998. Body condition and adjustments to reproductive effort in female moose (Alces alces). J. Mammal. 79: 1345-1354. doi:10.2307/1383026.
54. Therrien, J.-F., Côté, S.D., Festa-Bianchet, M., and Ouellet, J.-P. 2007. Conservative maternal care in an iteroparous mammal: a resource allocation experiment. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 62: 193-199. doi:10.1007/s00265-007-0453-8.
55. Thomas, D.C. 1982. The relationship between fertility and fat reserves of Peary caribou. Can. J. Zool. 60(4): 597-602. doi:10.1139/z82-089.
56. Tveraa, T., Fauchald, P., Henaug, C., and Yoccoz, N.G. 2003. An examination of a compensatory relationship between food limitation and predation in semidomestic reindeer. Oecologia, 137(3): 370-376. doi:10.1007/s00442-003-1373-6. PMID:12955491.
57. Vincent, J.P., Bideau, E., Hewison, A.J.M., and Angibault, J.M. 1995. The influence of increasing density on body weight, kid production, home range and winter grouping in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). J. Zool. (Lond.), 236: 371-382. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02719.x.