Mating success and fidelity to territories in a fallow deer lek: a female removal experiment

Abstract

A lek is a clump of male territories that females visit only for mating; it is quite a rare mating system among mammals. As we wanted to investigate the role of past male mating success on their fidelity to lek territories, we displaced fallow deer females by a lek (Lek A), i.e. we removed the resources for rutting males. They moved to a new area followed by some of the territorial males ('mobile' males) where they established a new lek (Lek B). Other males ('faithful' males) stayed on Lek A. The former had lower mating success and dominance ranking in the early, undisturbed part of the rut. After disturbance, the MS of faithful males was much reduced, while that of mobile males was higher on Lek B than it had been on Lek A. We then disturbed Lek B. Females returned to Lek A, and the mating success of faithful males reverted to its original level. Past mating success was the main factor predicting whether a male was faithful or mobile. We illustrated for the first time the importance of past experience in promoting lek fidelity; this experiment gives an insight into the mechanisms leading to the traditional use of leks.

Do hair-crested drongos reduce prospective territory competition by dismantling their nest after breeding?

“…Drongos that failed to produce fledglings in the previous year were more likely to change their territory than individuals that had succeeded (Fig. 3), a finding that echoes what others have reported (Alcock 1993;Switzer 1993;Haas 1998;Apollonio et al 2003;Hoover 2003). Therefore, if individuals benefit from nest dismantling in terms of reduced territory competition in the following year, failed breeding pairs that were more likely to disperse should be less motivated to dismantle their nest.…”

Assortative Mating in Fallow Deer Reduces the Strength of Sexual Selection

“…Thus, age-related changes in selectivity could occur in females due to changes in body condition [23], [24], [37]. Increased mating success for younger and/or subordinate males results in weaker directional selection on male traits associated with reproductive success, such as size and social dominance [20], [38], [39], [40]. The role of this type of assortative mating in influencing sexual selection in a species such as fallow deer has been overlooked.…”

Effect of current reproduction on apparent survival, breeding dispersal, and future reproduction in barn swallows assessed by multistate capture–recapture models

“…Theory predicts that current reproductive success has a strong impact on breeding dispersal: in a predictable environment, failed breeders may aim to increase their fitness by dispersing to a better habitat (Switzer 1993). Results from many empirical studies (insects: Alcock 1993, mammals: Apollonio, Scotti & Gosling 2003, birds: Shields 1984; Switzer 1997; Haas 1998; Doligez et al . 1999; Hoover 2003; Città & Lindberg 2007) have provided support of the predicted negative relationship between current reproductive success and breeding dispersal.…”