I can produce more offspring as you can imagine: first records on exceptionally large litters in roe deer in central/southern Europe

Flajšman, Katarina; Pokorny, Boštjan; Chirichella, Roberta; Bottero, Elisa; Mattioli, Luca; Apollonio, Marco

doi:10.1007/s10344-017-1102-9

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The age classes were determined by examination of the tooth eruption pattern (Aitken 1975). Based on previous findings (Borg 1970;Strandgaard 1972;Flajšman et al 2017b), we assumed that the embryonic loss in the first period of gestation was negligible. Therefore, the data on the number of corpora lutea and embryos were analysed together.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pachkowski et al 2013;Simard et al 2014;Borowik et al 2016). In roe deer, litter size varies from 1 to 5 (Danilkin 1996;Flajšman et al 2017b). Heavier females have larger litters and produce more offspring (Danilkin 1996;Andersen and Linnell 2000;Hewison and Gaillard 2001;Focardi et al 2002;Macdonald and Johnson 2008;Flajšman et al 2014Flajšman et al , 2017a, though becoming pregnant and then carrying more than one embryo generally require the reaching of a threshold body mass (Focardi et al 2002;Flajšman et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of population density and female body mass on litter size in European roe deer at a continental scale

et al. 2017

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Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has a wide distributional range in Europe and inhabits a broad range of habitats and environmental conditions. Thus, populations of roe deer show substantial variation in demographic parameters. We aimed to determine whether body mass and population density-which influence the reproductive potential of roe deer at a local scale-affect their reproductive potential at a biogeographical scale as well. We reviewed the literature (covering years 1948-2015) on in utero litter size in roe deer from 59 locations in 14 countries in Europe. Across study sites, mean litter size varied from 1.0 to 2.4 embryo or corpora lutea per female, and population density ranged from 4.5 to 73.5 individuals/km 2. Mean body mass varied from 11.2 to 20.8 kg in subadult females and from 12.1 to 22.4 kg in adult females. Between 46°and 56°N, body mass of females did not show a significant trend of increase, whereas between 56°and 63°N, it increased with latitude (Bergmann's rule). We used linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) to analyse the influence of body mass and population density (analysed separately) on litter size. Females with larger body mass produced larger litters, and this pattern was pronounced at both higher and lower latitudes. Higher population densities negatively affected litter size in a sample of all females. This macroecological analysis showed that factors influencing the reproductive potential of roe deer females at local scales produce similar effects at the biogeographical scale.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of population density and female body mass on litter size in European roe deer at a continental scale

et al. 2017

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“…Reliability of CL counts as an indicator of reproduction is still questionable because it is measured in the early stage of pregnancy when it is still a low‐cost process (i.e., prior to the substantial investment in implantation in mid‐winter; Bronson and Manning , Mauget et al ); it does not account for implantation failure (i.e., difference between the ovulation rate [number of CL] and successful implementation of ova [number of embryos or fetuses]), which is poorly understood but can exert high spatiotemporal variability; and there are few studies on influential factors that affect implantation success. The scarce data on implantation failure in roe deer are inconsistent; in some studies the overall implantation failure was <10% (Borg , Strandgaard , Flajšman et al ), but it might be also as high as 30% and may be influenced by the female age, body mass, and weather conditions in a given year (Hewison and Gaillard ). Implantation failure seems to increase with senescence, and was lower in healthy and heavier individuals compared to females with low body mass (Hewison and Gaillard ).…”

Section: Hypothesized Effects On the Implantation Success Of Roe Deermentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting implantation failure in roe deer

Chirichella¹,

Pokorny

Bottero³

et al. 2018

J Wildl Manag

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Reproductive performance is one of the most important life‐history traits that should be routinely studied and considered in adaptive wildlife management. In the case of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), a species with delayed implantation, which complicates studies on fetuses, corpora lutea (CL) counting is the only alternative for routine monitoring. However, because of a possible implantation failure, the reliability of this method is questionable, and factors influencing implantation success have been poorly understood so far. We analyzed 2,594 intact uteri of roe deer hunted from 2006–2015 in an Apennine population, central Italy, during winter (mid‐Jan to mid‐Mar). By comparing the number of CL and fetuses in the same individuals (i.e., success in blastocyst implantation), we revealed a mean implantation failure of 8.6% in a pooled sample set (regardless of the age and origin of animals), with a high inter‐annual variability (range = 3.6–19.8%). Contrary to adults (truex¯ ± SE = 11.1 ± 1.9%), the implantation failure in yearlings was low (4.4 ± 1.9%). Implantation success was affected by individual maternal characteristics (positive effect of body mass and negative effect of age), climatic condition in summer (positive effect of July temperature up to 23.4°C, and negative effect above this threshold), winter harshness (negative effect of snow cover duration), and altitude (negative relation with the elevation). Reproductive performance of adult female roe deer cannot be adequately measured by CL counts because of high inter‐annual variability in implantation failure and important effects of female attributes and environmental factors. However, for yearlings, which also express the highest variability in the ovulation rates, CL counts provide important information on their reproductive outcome because they have low implantation failure. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.

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“…Previous studies found that the sex ratio of roe deer offspring depends on the body weight of the female, with light females tending to give birth to male singletons (Focardi et al, 2002; Hewison et al, 2005), and females in better condition to twins or triplets with comparable fractions of male and female offspring (Flajšman et al, 2017; MacDonald & Johnson, 2008). Similar results have been reported for white‐tailed deer in North America (McGinley, 1984).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a male‐biased sex ratio in the offspring of a large herbivore: The role of environmental conditions in the sex ratio variation

Hagen

Ortmann

Elliger³

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Numerous studies have examined whether the primary and/or secondary sex ratio in mammals, including humans, deviates from an equilibrium of 1:1. Although effect size in the sex ratio variation is expected to be low, a large sample size allows the identification of even small deviations from parity. In this study, we investigated whether the sex ratio of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) offspring at birth approaches parity, using a large data set from roe deer offspring tagged in Baden‐Württemberg (Germany, 1972–2019, N = 12,437). In addition, a systematic re‐analysis of available data on the secondary sex ratios of roe deer was conducted to test whether our finding withstood the accumulation of further data. The null hypothesis that the sex ratio of roe deer (prenatal sex ratio and sex ratio at birth) approaches parity was rejected. Moreover, the secondary sex ratio of roe deer offspring deviated from the male‐biased mean for relatively cold or warm weather conditions during autumn and winter. Our study provides strong evidence for a male‐biased sex ratio in a large herbivore and weak evidence for variations in the secondary sex ratio owing to environmental conditions. The pattern is highly relevant in the context of climate change and its impact on the population dynamics of large herbivores.

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I can produce more offspring as you can imagine: first records on exceptionally large litters in roe deer in central/southern Europe

Cited by 11 publications

References 21 publications

Effects of population density and female body mass on litter size in European roe deer at a continental scale

Effects of population density and female body mass on litter size in European roe deer at a continental scale

Factors affecting implantation failure in roe deer

Evidence for a male‐biased sex ratio in the offspring of a large herbivore: The role of environmental conditions in the sex ratio variation

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