Aggression among Lekking Male Fallow Deer (Dama dama): Territory Effects and Relationship with Copulatory Success

Abstract

We studied the aggressive behavior of territorial male fallow deer (Dama dama) at two leks. Daily number of escalated fights was not correlated with number of matings. A dominance index including all agonistic interactions was weakly correlated with copulatory success; the correlation was stronger when each half of the rut was considered separately. Dominance likely changed over the rut due to fatigue. We ranked lek territories by the number of copulations seen in each. Males that won fights were likely to take over the loser's territory only if it ranked higher than the one they held. Winners were more likely to fight with a third male after defeating an opponent that held a higher‐ranking territory than one from a lower‐ranking territory. Exposure to attacks by third‐party males may be a major cost of fighting. Males appear aware of the relative value of different lek territories, but the frequency of aggression was not scaled to potential fitness benefits, possibly because males seldom fought with opponents they were unlikely to beat. The outcome of interactions on the lek may not always reflect the relative dominance rank of the contestants. Females are unlikely to use the outcome of fights as a direct criterion for mate selection.

Fighting Tactics of Fallow Bucks (Dama dama, Cervidae): Reducing the Risks of Serious Conflict

“…During the rut, the frequency of fights was closely related to the number of mating opportunities, indicating an increased tendency for males to risk potentially serious conflict in the presence of a valuable transient resource (Enquist & Leimar 1987). This is in contrast to the findings of Festa-Bianchet et al (1990), who found that the daily numbers of fights and matings across fallow deer leks were either weakly correlated, or not correlated at all. However, in the same population, the number of matings and fights on individual lek territories were correlated .…”

“…In addition, the ma-jority of fights between territorial males on the fallow deer leks in question had no clear winners. Thus, they could not contribute to estimates of dominance rank (Clutton-Brock et al 1988;Festa-Bianchet et al 1990). The dominance and fighting ranks in the present study were calculated using the results of agonistic interactions between males that ranged widely.…”

Determinants of age at first reproduction and lifetime breeding success revealed by full paternity assignment in a male ungulate

“…In polygynous species, male reproductive success depends on their ability to outcompete rival males and on the number of females they can fertilize (Festa-Bianchet et al 1990, Komers et al 1994, Clutton-Brock and McAucliffe 2009, Clutton-Brock 2017. Thus, males usually compete intensely for mates, which may create large variation in male mating success (Emlen andOring 1977, Clutton-Brock 1988) and, in turn, strong selection on sexual traits (such as horns, antlers, tusks; Geist 1966, Andersson 1994.…”

Correlational selection on personality and social plasticity: morphology and social context determine behavioural effects on mating success

“…A major line of work in ecological and evolutionary research aims at investigating relationships between individual mating success and sexually dimorphic traits, such as male weaponry, ornaments (e.g., Clutton-Brock 1988;Lappin & Husak 2005) or behaviours (Festa-Bianchet et al 1990;Fiske, Rintamaki & Karvonen 1998;Kelly 2008;Schuett, Godin & Dall 2011). The overarching goal is to understand the agents of sexual selection (Kirkpatrick & Ryan 1991;Andersson 1994;Jennions et al 2012) and to predict their evolutionary consequences, eventually explaining how individual variation in sexually selected traits is maintained.…”