Effects of Seasonal Protein Restriction on Antlerogenesis and Body Mass in Adult Male White-Tailed Deer

Asleson, Mark A.; Hellgren, Eric C.; Varner, Larry W.

doi:10.2307/3802107

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The importance of nutrition to antler development and body condition in deer is well documented (French et al 1956;Ullrey 1983;Asleson et al 1997), and it is probable that extreme nutrient requirements imposed by antler growth may compete for resources required by a functioning immune system (Lochmiller and Deerenberg 2000). It follows then that males that develop large antlers demonstrate strength and genetic quality to competitors by maintaining good health during a potentially stressful period of their life history.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Major-Histocompatibility-Complex-Associated Variation in Secondary Sexual Traits of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus): Evidence for Good-Genes Advertisement

et al. 2007

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Good-genes hypotheses predict that development of secondary sexual characters can be an honest advertisement of heritable male quality. We explored this hypothesis using a cervid model (adult, male white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus) to determine whether antler development could provide an honest signal of a male's genetic quality and condition to adversaries. We compared antler, morphometric, hormonal, and parasitic data collected from hunter-harvested deer to characteristics of the Mhc-DRB (Odvi), the most widely studied gene of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in Artiodactyla. We detected associations between genetic characteristics at Odvi-DRB and antler development and body mass, suggesting that antler development and body mass may be associated with pathogen resistance in deer and thus may be an honest signal of genetic quality. We also detected associations between Odvi-DRB characteristics and serum testosterone during the breeding season, suggesting that certain MHC characteristics may help deer cope with stresses related to breeding activity. In addition, we observed a negative relationship between degree of antler development and overall abundance of abomasal helminths. Our observations provide support for the hypothesis that antler development in white-tailed deer is an honest signal of quality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Major-Histocompatibility-Complex-Associated Variation in Secondary Sexual Traits of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus): Evidence for Good-Genes Advertisement

et al. 2007

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“…Such effects may be reduced in vertebrates because secondary sexual traits are typically not fixed at reproductive maturity, allowing individuals to compensate for nutrient deficiency in development via supplementary feeding or differential resource allocation in adulthood (Birkhead, Fletcher & Pellatt 1999). Protein in the adult diet could also affect secondary sexual trait expression, although studies that have tested for this in vertebrates (the pheasant Phasianus colchicus and the white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus) did not detect an effect (Asleson, Hellgren & Varner 1997;Smith et al 2007). It is therefore possible that dietary protein affects the expression of adult secondary sexual morphology only in taxa where the growth of such traits is completed prior to the adult stage, although further research is clearly needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary protein mediates a trade‐off between larval survival and the development of male secondary sexual traits

2013

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Summary1. Increased protein intake by adults typically enhances reproduction and shortens life, but much less is known about the effects of protein intake prior to reproductive maturity. In particular, it remains unclear whether dietary protein mediates a trade-off between survival and the development of reproductive traits, especially in males. 2. We used the nutritional geometry approach to investigate the effects of 25 replicated larval diets varying in protein and carbohydrate content on larval performance and the development of adult male morphology in the neriid fly Telostylinus angusticollis. 3. We found that body size increased with carbohydrate and especially protein content in the larval diet. Moreover, after controlling for body size, dietary protein strongly enhanced the expression of those male morphological traits that appear to be most directly targeted by sexual selection, while having no effect on the expression of other traits. In sharp contrast, eggto-adult viability decreased steeply with increasing protein content. 4. Thus, protein intake during the larval stage mediates a trade-off between the expression of male secondary sexual traits and the probability of survival to adult emergence.

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“…Dietary protein levels <9% result in poor fawn growth (Thompson et al 1973). For example, deer fawns fed a 16% protein diet from October to March had greater antler growth than those fed a 7% protein diet (Ullrey 1983), and deer fed a high protein diet starting in March had greater body growth than deer fed the same diet but beginning 1 month later (Asleson et al 1997). Our results thus indicate that protein content of forage is likely to be selected for as it can positively influence body growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In northern environments, deer gain mass during summer and fall, deposit fat during fall, then catabolize fat reserves and lose mass through winter and spring because of reduced plant abundance and quality (DelGiudice et al 1992). Because of the protein requirements for growth (Asleson et al 1997), we predicted that high plant protein content would be selected by deer during spring and summer, whereas high energy content would be selected to increase fat accumulation during fall. We predicted that plants with high fiber content would be avoided throughout the year because of their low dry matter digestibility (DMD; Robbins et al 1987).…”

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confidence: 99%

Are feeding preferences of white‐tailed deer related to plant constituents?

et al. 2011

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Controlled feeding experiments can provide valuable insights into food selection of herbivores. We conducted cafeteria trials on captive yearling white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during 2 years to determine feeding preferences in relation to plant chemical constituents, i.e., nitrogen and fibers. We simultaneously offered 8 species of cultivated and wild plants in monthly foraging trials conducted from June to October. We predicted that species preferences would be positively related to protein content from June to August and to digestible energy in September and October. As predicted, crude protein (CP) was positively related to feeding preferences, particularly as summer progressed. Feeding preferences were also negatively related to fiber content, especially in early summer. Our results indicate high protein needs over the complete growing season for yearling deer but a decrease in overall plant selectivity as summer progresses. Our results also suggest that deer browsing on cultivated plants might be due to higher CP content of cultivated plants than wild plants. To prevent deer impact on crops, managers should favor regeneration of plants rich in CP content in forests. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.

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Effects of Seasonal Protein Restriction on Antlerogenesis and Body Mass in Adult Male White-Tailed Deer

Cited by 15 publications

References 28 publications

Major-Histocompatibility-Complex-Associated Variation in Secondary Sexual Traits of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus): Evidence for Good-Genes Advertisement

Major-Histocompatibility-Complex-Associated Variation in Secondary Sexual Traits of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus): Evidence for Good-Genes Advertisement

Dietary protein mediates a trade‐off between larval survival and the development of male secondary sexual traits

Are feeding preferences of white‐tailed deer related to plant constituents?

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