Population density and sex do not influence fine-scale natal dispersal in roe deer

Gaillard, Jean‐Michel; Hewison, A. J. Mark; Kjellander, Petter; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Bonenfant, Christophe; Moorter, Bram Van; Liberg, Olof; Andrén, Henrik; Laere, Guy Van; Klein, François; Angibault, Jean‐Marc; Coulon, Aurélie; Vanpé, Cécile

doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0393

Cited by 45 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In contrast, dispersal might be reduced with increasing fragmentation when suitable habitat patches are surrounded by a hostile matrix (barriers, urbanised areas, habitats with increased predation risk) (Sheperd and Swihart 1995). When matrix habitats are not hostile and do not reduce movements of relatively mobile species, different degrees of fragmentation will have little effect on dispersal behaviour and distances (Bakker and Van Vuren 2004;Gaillard et al 2008). This was probably the case in our study, where suitable woodland patches were interspersed with farm-and cropland, isolated farms, houses with gardens and rural villages, all habitats that apparently did not reduce dispersal movements of red squirrels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Dispersal and habitat cuing of Eurasian red squirrels in fragmented habitats

et al. 2010

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Animal dispersal and subsequent settlement is a key process in the life history of many organisms, when individuals use demographic and environmental cues to target post-dispersal habitats where fitness will be highest. To investigate the hypothesis that environmental disturbance (habitat fragmentation) may alter these cues, we compared dispersal patterns of 60 red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in three study sites that differ in habitat composition and fragmentation. We determined dispersal distances, pre-and post-dispersal habitat types and survival using a combination of capture-mark-recapture, radiotracking and genetic parentage assignment. Most (75%) squirrels emigrated from the natal home range with mean dispersal distance of 1,014 ± 925 m (range 51-4,118 m). There were no sex-related differences in dispersal patterns and no differences in average dispersal distance, and the proportion of dispersers did not differ between sites. In one of the sites, dispersers settled in patches where density was lower than in the natal patch. In the least fragmented site, 90% of animals settled in the natal habitat type (habitat cuing) against 44-54% in the more strongly fragmented sites. Overall, more squirrels settled in the natal habitat type than expected based on habitat availability, but this was mainly due to individuals remaining within the natal wood. In the highly fragmented landscape, habitat cuing among emigrants did not occur more frequently than expected. We concluded that increased habitat fragmentation seemed to reduce reliable cues for habitat choice, but that dispersing squirrels settled in patches with lower densities of same-sex animals than at the natal home range or patch, independent of degree of fragmentation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Dispersal and habitat cuing of Eurasian red squirrels in fragmented habitats

et al. 2010

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“…on red deer [8]–[10], on wild boar [11], on brush-tailed rock-wallaby [2], on common vole [12]), and much less is known about the genetic structure of solitary species (but see [6] on brown bears, [13] on a rodent: talar tuco-tuco, [14] on Canadian lynx). Contrary to most mammals studied so far, the European roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), living alone or in small family groups, deviates from this general pattern, exhibiting a low level of polygyny [15] and no between-sex differences in natal dispersal [16], [17]. Roe deer thus offers a unique opportunity to test whether social structure and sex-biased dispersal drive fine-scale genetic structure among large mammalian herbivores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

No Difference between the Sexes in Fine-Scale Spatial Genetic Structure of Roe Deer

Bonnot

Gaillard²,

Coulon³

et al. 2010

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundData on spatial genetic patterns may provide information about the ecological and behavioural mechanisms underlying population structure. Indeed, social organization and dispersal patterns of species may be reflected by the pattern of genetic structure within a population.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe investigated the fine-scale spatial genetic structure of a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) population in Trois-Fontaines (France) using 12 microsatellite loci. The roe deer is weakly polygynous and highly sedentary, and can form matrilineal clans. We show that relatedness among individuals was negatively correlated with geographic distance, indicating that spatially proximate individuals are also genetically close. More unusually for a large mammalian herbivore, the link between relatedness and distance did not differ between the sexes, which is consistent with the lack of sex-biased dispersal and the weakly polygynous mating system of roe deer.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results contrast with previous reports on highly polygynous species with male-biased dispersal, such as red deer, where local genetic structure was detected in females only. This divergence between species highlights the importance of socio-spatial organization in determining local genetic structure of vertebrate populations.

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“…This was partly because the most frequently used marking site was also a hot spot for hunting, but also because coordinates of recovery locations were recorded as identical with the coordinates of the marking site for animals shot in the immediate surroundings of this site. We divided the recoveries into two distance categories as recommended by Bennets et al (2001; also done by Gaillard et al 2008). We chose the threshold distance as the median diameter of annual 95 per cent home ranges in seasonally migrating female red deer in another study area at the west coast of Norway (8.7 km; nZ24; unpublished GPS data).…”

Section: (D) Population Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Negative density-dependent emigration of males in an increasing red deer population

et al. 2009

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In species with polygynous mating systems, females are regarded as food-limited, while males are limited by access to mates. When local density increases, forage availability declines, while mate access for males may increase due to an increasingly female-biased sex ratio. Density dependence in emigration rates may consequently differ between sexes. Here, we investigate emigration using mark-recovery data from 468 young red deer Cervus elaphus marked in Snillfjord, Norway over a 20-year period when the population size has increased sixfold. We demonstrate a strong negative density-dependent emigration rate in males, while female emigration rates were lower and independent of density. Emigrating males leaving the natal range settled in areas with lower density than expected by chance. Dispersing males moved 42 per cent longer at high density in 1997 (37 km) than at low density in 1977 (26 km), possibly caused by increasing saturation of deer in areas surrounding the marking sites. Our study highlights that pattern of density dependence in dispersal rates may differ markedly between sexes in highly polygynous species. Contrasting patterns reported in small-scale studies are suggestive that spatial scale of density variation may affect the pattern of temporal density dependence in emigration rates and distances.

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Population density and sex do not influence fine-scale natal dispersal in roe deer

Cited by 45 publications

References 44 publications

Dispersal and habitat cuing of Eurasian red squirrels in fragmented habitats

Dispersal and habitat cuing of Eurasian red squirrels in fragmented habitats

No Difference between the Sexes in Fine-Scale Spatial Genetic Structure of Roe Deer

Negative density-dependent emigration of males in an increasing red deer population

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