One in the Hand Worth Two in the Bush? Reproductive Effort of Young Males Is Not Affected by the Presence of Adult Males

Monteith, Kevin L.; Monteith, Kyle B.; Jenks, Jonathan A.; Jakopak, Rhiannon P.

doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.00274

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…During the rut, males experienced a marked decrease in their body condition (our results and e.g., Forsyth et al, 2005;Holand et al, 2006;Monteith et al, 2020;Rughetti and Festa-Bianchet, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…These results support the hypothesis of a substantial cost of male reproduction in sexually dimorphic capital breeders that mostly rely on body energetic reserves. These costs result from the direct energy expenditure associated with rutting behaviors and from the reduced involvement in feeding activities (Bon et al, 1995;Brivio et al, 2010;Clutton-Brock et al, 1982;Monteith et al, 2020). Thus, costs may be higher than acquired energy and lead to a negative energetic balance and to the metabolism of their fat reserves during this period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These reproductive behaviors are highly energetically demanding for males, especially in most polygynous and dimorphic species McElligott et al, 2003;Miquelle, 1990;Yoccoz et al, 2002). In addition to the direct energy costs of such behaviors, polygynous males allocate most of their energy and time to reproductive behaviors during the rut with a depressed voluntary food intake and negative consequences on their body condition (Brivio et al, 2010;Clutton-Brock et al, 1982;Foley et al, 2018;Monteith et al, 2020;Mysterud et al, 2008;Pelletier et al, 2009). The investment of males in reproduction and the mating tactic they adopt generally also varies with age.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, young males spend more time feeding and less time in costly reproductive behaviors and use alternative reproductive tactics (e.g., coursing; Bon et al, 1995;Mysterud et al, 2004;Pelletier et al, 2006;Willisch and Neuhaus, 2009). As a consequence, the energetic investment for reproduction is expected to be lower in young males than in mature ones (Foley et al, 2018;Mysterud et al, 2004;Yoccoz et al, 2002), the former also balancing energy expenditure with growth and long-term reproductive success (Forsyth et al, 2005;Garel et al, 2011;Monteith et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In such populations, the biased hunting pressure against mature males may lead to a female-biased adult sex ratio and a higher proportion of young males compared with non-hunted populations. In the absence of adult males, young ones may then invest more energy in rutting activities and less energy in body growth, with potential short-and long-term consequences on their body mass, size, and survival (Bon et al, 1992;Garel et al, 2006; but see Monteith et al, 2020 on yearling males of white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus; Mysterud, 2014;Singer and Zeigenfuss, 2002;Stringham and Bubenik, 1975).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Young and mature males have similar energy expenditure during the rut in a trophy-hunted population of Mediterranean mouflon

Bourgoin

Laurent

Marchand³

et al. 2020

Mamm Biol

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In polygynous ungulates, males invest time and energy to reproductive activities during the rut and this involvement is expected to increase with age due to different mating tactics in young versus adult males. In contrast, mating period is expected to be less costly for females for which late gestation and lactation, in spring, are the most energetically demanding periods. However, empirical support of these hypotheses through direct measures of reproductive effort are still limited in ungulate species, particularly in males. In addition, this general pattern may be modified in populations facing selective harvesting on adult males, where young males may experience less competition to mate and invest more energy during the rut. We investigated these hypotheses by studying the age-and sex-specific variations of kidney fat reserves from pre-to post-rut periods in a trophy hunted population of Mediterranean mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp.), a polygynous dimorphic mountain ungulate. Females were found to build up energy from the pre-rut to the post-rut periods, most likely to face with the subsequent costs of gestation/lactation that occur few months later. Conversely, kidney fat mass strongly decreased similarly in both young and mature males, and with the same extent, suggesting a strong investment of males of all ages in this population. This might be related to the selective hunting pressure on mature males this population is facing with. This result supports the need for more empirical and comparative studies to better grasp the influence of trophy hunting on reproductive effort in male ungulates.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Young and mature males have similar energy expenditure during the rut in a trophy-hunted population of Mediterranean mouflon

Bourgoin

Laurent

Marchand³

et al. 2020

Mamm Biol

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Thermal conditions alter the mating behaviour of males in a polygynous system

Levine,

Kroger,

Monteith

2024

Functional Ecology

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Males in polygynous systems may be facing a trade‐off between the traits that enhance reproductive success and the need to cope with environmental change. To secure mates, males invest into large bodies, lavish ornaments and costly activities, but these investments may be incompatible with future environments. As climatic change intensifies, thermal stressors could be disrupting the energy‐intensive pathways that historically have yielded mating opportunity. We evaluated how traits associated with social dominance interacted with environmental conditions to shape mating behaviour and opportunity in moose (Alces alces), a heat‐sensitive species in which southern populations live at the edge of their thermal tolerance. We anticipated that males with favourable characteristics (e.g. age, weaponry) would allocate more to reproduction, resulting in increased mating opportunity. We expected that warm temperatures would limit reproductive effort, especially as age and weapon size increased. We quantified mating tactics, effort, and opportunity for male moose ranging in age from 1.5 to 11.5 years. We used hidden Markov models to detect mating tactics, accelerometer data to quantify movement effort, and proximity to females as a proxy for mating opportunity. We modelled these mating dynamics as a function of age, weapon size, and ambient temperature. Warm temperatures exaggerated age‐related differences in time and effort allocated to reproductive movement. Heat disproportionately limited reproductive effort in old males, the ages that also had the greatest mating opportunity. Even though warm temperatures altered mating behaviour, they did not reduce mating opportunity. Across temperatures, mating opportunity was highest in prime‐age and old males, yet time and effort devoted to reproductive movement decreased with age. Climate change, which is increasing autumn temperatures, may increase variation in reproductive effort across ages and depress the movement of old males, who are typically the primary breeders. The discrepancy between behaviour and opportunity suggests that movement is not a reliable pathway to reproduction and emphasizes the advantages of energy‐saving strategies, especially as environments become more taxing for heat‐sensitive species. We reveal the limitations of movement effort in polygynous mating strategies and the susceptibility of this critical life history stage to environmental change. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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One in the Hand Worth Two in the Bush? Reproductive Effort of Young Males Is Not Affected by the Presence of Adult Males

Cited by 2 publications

References 66 publications

Young and mature males have similar energy expenditure during the rut in a trophy-hunted population of Mediterranean mouflon

Young and mature males have similar energy expenditure during the rut in a trophy-hunted population of Mediterranean mouflon

Thermal conditions alter the mating behaviour of males in a polygynous system

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