Hunting promotes spatial reorganization and sexually selected infanticide

Abstract

Harvest can affect the ecology and evolution of wild species. The removal of key individuals, such as matriarchs or dominant males, can disrupt social structure and exacerbate the impact of hunting on population growth. We do not know, however, how and when the spatiotemporal reorganization takes place after removal and if such changes can be the mechanism that explain a decrease in population growth. Detailed behavioral information from individually monitored brown bears, in a population where hunting increases sexually selected infanticide, revealed that adult males increased their use of home ranges of hunter-killed neighbors in the second year after their death. Use of a hunter-killed male’s home range was influenced by the survivor’s as well as the hunter-killed male’s age, population density, and hunting intensity. Our results emphasize that hunting can have long-term indirect effects which can affect population viability.

Reproductive class influences risk tolerance during denning and spring for American black bears (Ursus americanus)

“…Consistent individual differences in behavior affect survival and reproduction and therefore have evolutionary implications (Leclerc et al. ), yet consistency does not imply that an individual's behavior is fixed, but that it consistently differs from other individuals in the same population (Biro and Stamps ), as found in our study. Individual variability can decrease inter‐individual competition and should be facilitated by traits such as large body size or a generalist diet (Bison et al.…”

“…Male bears likely assess their paternity through their mating history (Leclerc et al. ), and infanticide in ursids appears to be mostly a male reproductive strategy (Swenson et al. , Swenson et al.…”

Evolutionary and ecological traps for brown bears Ursus arctos in human‐modified landscapes

“…Therefore, disruption of the social structure may exacerbate the demographic effects of hunting (Table ), increasing demographic variability and ultimately affecting population size (Leclerc et al. ).…”

Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

“…Selective removal of individuals may change aspects of social organization and dispersal rates (Milner et al 2007;Allendorf and Hard 2009;Averbeck et al 2010;Borg et al 2015, Leclerc et al 2017, while hunting disturbance can induce escape movements and temporary home range displacement (Kamei et al 2010;Grignolio et al 2011;Thurfjell et al 2013;Jarnemo and Wikenros 2014). In the case of wild boar, repeated hunting disturbance may affect social structure, leading to an increase in fission-fusion dynamics in the population, potentially facilitating the spread of diseases (Iacolina et al 2009;Scillitani et al 2010;Saïd et al 2012).…”