Early life expenditure in sexual competition is associated with increased reproductive senescence in male red deer

Lemaître, Jean François; Gaillard, Jean Michel; Pemberton, Josephine M.; Clutton‐Brock, Tim; Nussey, Daniel H.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.0792

Cited by 69 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…), are much lower than in mammals (Lemaître et al . ). Predation is not an important factor limiting the length of life in urban bird populations (Ibáñez‐Álamo & Soler ); in addition, climate and food availability in winter improve the chances of survival (Lidauer , Sillett & Holmes , Luniak ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Age‐specific reproduction and disposable soma in an urban population of Common BlackbirdsTurdus merula

Jankowiak

Zyskowski

Wysocki

2017

Ibis

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The mechanism of senescence is an important subject of current research, but our knowledge of the factors influencing the rate of ageing in naturally occurring populations remains rudimentary. Evolutionary theories of senescence predict that investment in reproduction in early life should come at the cost of reduced somatic maintenance and thus result in earlier or more rapid senescence. We use data on the complete reproductive histories of 431 Common Blackbirds (222 males and 209 females) collected during a 19‐year study of the ecology of an urban population of this species to test the main hypotheses addressing the issue of senescence. On average, the birds in this population survived for 3.7 (± 1.9 sd) years. Reproductive success in females peaked at the age of 4, but in males remained stable until the 5th year of life. We observed declines in reproductive success, indicative of senescence, after the peak years in both sexes. The mechanism of age‐related changes in the reproduction of females confirms the individual improvement and selective disappearance hypotheses. In the case of males, the increase in reproductive performance comes as a consequence of the disappearance of poor reproducers. The parental investment associated with early life fecundity (the first two breeding seasons in males and females) impairs the breeding success of females later on. Contrary to expectations, there was no negative impact of high early life fecundity on either mortality or lifespan. Individuals of both sexes with a high early life fecundity had a higher lifetime reproductive success than those in which early life fecundity was low. Hence, the most profitable strategy is to maximize reproductive effort in the early stages of life. This yields the highest lifetime reproductive success, despite the increased impact of senescence, especially in females. These results are consistent with the disposable soma hypothesis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Age‐specific reproduction and disposable soma in an urban population of Common BlackbirdsTurdus merula

Jankowiak

Zyskowski

Wysocki

2017

Ibis

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“…Female mate choice has been shown to be an important determinant of male reproductive success also in mammals (Clutton‐Brock and McAucliffe ). Indeed, female moose are inclined to delay conception when the mean age of males in the population is low (Sæther et al 2003, , Herfindal et al ), indicating a strong mating preference for older males.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most population models are female‐based and neglect the presence of males. However, males are important for population processes and dynamics (Mysterud et al , Sæther et al 2003, , Rankin and Kokko , Herfindal et al ), and knowledge of the variation in male reproductive success is imperative for the understanding of evolutionary processes such as sexual selection and effective population size (Engen et al 2005, Sæther et al ). To develop more realistic population models, we therefore need to include both sexes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Markussen

Herfindal

Loison

et al. 2018

Oikos

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Age at first reproduction is an important determinant of individual variation in reproductive success in ungulates, but few studies have examined its relationship with later fitness‐related traits in males. We used a long‐term individual based study of a harvested moose population to quantify the individual reproductive performance and survival of males, as well as to examine the determinants of age at first reproduction and consequences of age at first reproduction on lifetime breeding success. The probability that a male successfully reproduced at the age of two was negatively related to the mean age of adult males in the population, but the relationship weakened with increasing population size. Large antlers and large body mass relative to other males in the population increased the number of calves sired at their first successful mating season. In addition, those that successfully reproduced as two year‐olds were more likely to sire calves the next year, making them more productive at a given age compared to those that first reproduced at the age of three or older. We emphasize the importance for males to start reproducing as soon as possible in a harvested population to gain lifetime fitness benefits, as surviving the hunt is a major determinant of reproductive success in this population. We found no costs of early reproduction in males, hence leading to high individual heterogeneity in male reproductive performance. The apparent lack of reproductive costs could partly be explained by the age distribution in the population, individual variation in early‐life body mass and antler size, and differences in probabilities of being hunted of successful and unsuccessful males.

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“…However, there is increasing evidence that higher male allocation to sexual competition during early life accelerates senescence. This is well illustrated by the polygynous red deer in which males with the largest harems between 4 and 9 years of age have much steeper senescence rates in harem size and number of days spent rutting once they reach 10 years old [32]. More studies of contrasting male reproductive tactics and allocation to secondary sexual traits, which markedly differ across species [95] are now required to understand how the intensity of sexual competition influences senescence patterns.…”

Section: (B) Sex-differences In Ageing Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-late life trade-offs and the evolution of ageing in the wild

et al. 2015

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Empirical evidence for declines in fitness components (survival and reproductive performance) with age has recently accumulated in wild populations, highlighting that the process of senescence is nearly ubiquitous in the living world. Senescence patterns are highly variable among species and current evolutionary theories of ageing propose that such variation can be accounted for by differences in allocation to growth and reproduction during early life. Here, we compiled 26 studies of free-ranging vertebrate populations that explicitly tested for a trade-off between performance in early and late life. Our review brings overall support for the presence of early-late life trade-offs, suggesting that the limitation of available resources leads individuals to trade somatic maintenance later in life for high allocation to reproduction early in life. We discuss our results in the light of two closely related theories of ageing-the disposable soma and the antagonistic pleiotropy theories-and propose that the principle of energy allocation roots the ageing process in the evolution of life-history strategies. Finally, we outline research topics that should be investigated in future studies, including the importance of natal environmental conditions in the study of trade-offs between early-and late-life performance and the evolution of sex-differences in ageing patterns.

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Early life expenditure in sexual competition is associated with increased reproductive senescence in male red deer

Cited by 69 publications

References 51 publications

Age‐specific reproduction and disposable soma in an urban population of Common BlackbirdsTurdus merula

Age‐specific reproduction and disposable soma in an urban population of Common BlackbirdsTurdus merula

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

Early-late life trade-offs and the evolution of ageing in the wild

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