Nutrition and ontogeny influence weapon development in a long-lived mammal

Jones, Phillip D.; Strickland, Bronson K.; Demarais, Stephen; Wang, Guiming; Dacus, Chad M.

doi:10.1139/cjz-2017-0345

Cited by 14 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 103 publications

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“…Likewise, females reach maximum body mass in this region at age 3.5, after which mass remains stable (Strickland and Demarais , Gee et al ). We elected to examine antler mass of trophy males because antler development of mature males is likely to be more variable than body mass (Jones et al ) and because of substantial hunter interest. Most larger Batture properties are either owned by or leased to deer hunting clubs that manage for improved male age structure and antler development through limited culling of younger male age classes (Demarais and Strickland ), and regulate population growth primarily through antlerless harvest.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal flooding effects on deer in the Mississippi river batture

et al. 2019

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Effective deer management requires managers to distinguish between the density‐dependent influence of harvest and local environmental factors. The Batture region of the Lower Mississippi River Valley comprises land adjacent to the river that is not protected by the levee system, and is therefore subject to seasonal flooding with potential to influence the morphology and demographics of white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Using harvest records of 42,954 females and 3,588 males from 61 Batture properties in Mississippi and Louisiana, we created linear regression models of deer body development and recruitment indices to compare the influence of seasonal flooding, harvest rate, growing season weather, and agronomic forage availability during 1988–2016. Overall, deer in the Batture appeared to be more influenced by extrinsic factors than by harvest. Seasonal flooding appeared in every model and generally had stronger effects than weather or harvest variables. Flooding from 1 to 2 years prior, regardless of season, was correlated with greater female body mass, lactation rates, and antler mass of trophy males, possibly reflecting silt deposition effects on soil fertility and promotion of new understory forages. Conversely, current‐year flooding effects were invariably negative, implying direct effects of displacement. Summer flooding was concentrated during late gestation and peak parturition periods, and exhibited the potential to reduce fall lactation rates by 18%. Harvest rates correlated negatively with female body mass and had no correlation with lactation or antler mass. We detected contrasting long‐term trends of decreasing body mass and increasing harvest rate that may reflect deteriorating habitat. Similar to flooding, increased temperatures and rainfall had negative effects for the current year, whereas increased temperatures had positive effects when occurring in the previous year. Surprisingly, annual variation in the amount of soybeans planted appeared in one model only, exhibiting a small positive effect on antler mass. We hypothesize that extensive planting of soybeans in levee‐protected lands just outside the Batture maintained substantial soybean availability despite variation in the amount planted. Given the dominating influence of flooding and weather on deer physical and reproductive parameters in the Batture, these extrinsic variables should be incorporated into the interpretation of harvest data. The common practice of curtailing harvest, particularly female harvest, following years with extensive flooding is likely counterproductive unless intensive flooding occurs during summer. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal flooding effects on deer in the Mississippi river batture

et al. 2019

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“…Allometric relationships were assessed separately for the two populations. Within each population, an age-class-specific slope of 1 would suggest isometric relationship, whereas slopes above or below 1 would indicate positive and negative allometry, respectively (Jones et al, 2018). were fitted with the package "mgcv" (Wood, 2017), and their residual diagnostics and marginal effects were investigated with the package "mgcViz" (Fasiolo et al, 2018).…”

Section: Districtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differences in allometric relationship have been observed between subadults (2–4 years old) and adults (aged 5+) (Schröder, 1983). The relationship between antler mass and body mass was also investigated in farmed red deer stags (Ball et al., 1994; Hyvärinen et al., 1977; Moore et al., 1988; Muir & Sykes, 1988) and in other cervid species including white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus (McCullough 1982; Jones et al., 2018) and mule deer O. hemionus (Anderson & Medin 1965). However, information on how local environmental conditions affect positive allometry is rare for cervids (but see Jones et al., 2018 for white‐tailed deer).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial variation in antler investment of Apennine red deer

Mattioli

Ferretti

Nicoloso³

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Here, we explored the genic basis for phenotypic variation by sampling the extreme phenotypes in a non-model big game species, the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, WTD). Two traits are of particular interest in WTD; body size and antler size, which have a degree of observable variation (Hewitt 2011) and are connected to individual reproductive success (DeYoung et al, 2009;Newbolt et al, 2016;Jones et al, 2018). Heritability for antler and body measurements are moderate to high for antler features and body size (Michel et al, 2016;Williams et al, 1994;Jamieson et al, 2020).…”

Section: Emerging Approaches To Investigate the Genomic Architecture mentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic architecture of artificially and sexually selected traits in a wild cervid

Sd²,

Jh³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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22Characterization of the complex genomic architecture underlying quantitative 23 traits can provide valuable insights into the study, conservation, and management of 24 natural populations. This is particularly true for fitness-related traits such as body size 25 and male ornamentation in mammals because as indicators of quality and health, these 26 traits are often subject to sexual and artificial selective pressures. Here we performed 27 high-depth whole genome re-sequencing on pools of individuals representing the 28 phenotypic extremes in our study system for antler and body size in white-tailed deer 29 (Odocoileus virginianus). Samples were selected from a database containing 30 phenotypic data for 4,466 male white-tailed deer from Anticosti Island, Quebec, with 31 four pools representing the extreme phenotypes for antler and body size in the 32 population. Our results revealed a largely panmictic population (F ST ~ 0.01), but also 33 detected diverged regions (F ST > 0.11) between pools for both traits. These regions 34 revealed genomic islands with signatures of positive selection and demographic 35 expansion (negative Tajima's D), and contained putative genes of small-to-moderate 36 effect. Through qPCR analysis we genotyped an intron variant on gene SRP54 that is a 37 potential QTL for antler size, and propose two missense variants on the MYADM and 38 SPATA31E1 genes known to influence body size in mammals and reproductive success 39 as potential QTL. This study revealed the polygenic nature of both antler morphology 40 and body size in white-tailed deer and identified target loci for additional analyses. 41 Study area 126Anticosti Island (49°N, 62°W; 7,943 km 2 ) is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Québec 127 (Canada) at the northeastern limit of the white-tailed deer range (Figure 1). The island is 128 within the balsam fir-white birch bioclimatic region with a maritime sub-boreal climate 129 characterized by cool and rainy summers (630mm/year), and long and snowy winters 130 (406 cm/year;Environment Canada, 2006;Simard et al., 2010). The deer population 131 was introduced in 1896 with ca. 220 animals and rapidly increased. Today, densities are 132 7 >20 deer/km 2 and can exceed 50 deer/km 2 locally (Potvin and Breton 2005) with an 133 estimated population >160,000 individuals. 134 Sample Collection and Modeling 135We collected tissue samples and phenotypic data on 4,466 male deer harvested by 136 hunters from September to early December, 2002-2014. We used cementum layers in 137 incisor teeth to age individuals (Hamlin et al., 2000). Two metrics of antler size were 138 selected: the number of antler tines or points (>2.5 cm) and beam diameter (measured 139

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Nutrition and ontogeny influence weapon development in a long-lived mammal

Cited by 14 publications

References 103 publications

Seasonal flooding effects on deer in the Mississippi river batture

Seasonal flooding effects on deer in the Mississippi river batture

Spatial variation in antler investment of Apennine red deer

Genomic architecture of artificially and sexually selected traits in a wild cervid

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