Separating the Bruce and Trivers‐Willard effects in theory and in human data

Catalano, Ralph; Gemmill, Alison; Casey, Joan A.; Karasek, Deborah; Stewart, Holly; Saxton, Katherine

doi:10.1002/ajhb.23074

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Additionally, several studies in humans have generalized the term "Bruce effect" to refer to spontaneous abortion in response to a range of stressful environments that may threaten offspring survival. 19,20,104 While severe stress is undoubtedly an important factor in human fertility and reproduction, we discourage the use of the term "Bruce effect" unless pregnancy loss can be attributed to exposure to a nonsire male.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male‐mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Zipple

Roberts

Alberts

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Sexually selected infanticide has been the subject of intense empirical and theoretical study for decades; a related phenomenon, male‐mediated prenatal loss, has received much less attention in evolutionary studies. Male‐mediated prenatal loss occurs when inseminated or pregnant females terminate reproductive effort following exposure to a nonsire male, either through implantation failure or pregnancy termination. Male‐mediated prenatal loss encompasses two sub‐phenomena: sexually selected feticide and the Bruce effect. In this review, we provide a framework that explains the relationship between feticide and the Bruce effect and describes what is known about the proximate and ultimate mechanisms involved in each. Using a simple model, we demonstrate that male‐mediated prenatal loss can provide greater reproductive benefits to males than infanticide. We therefore suggest that, compared to infanticide, male‐mediated prenatal loss may be more prevalent in mammalian species and may have played a greater role in their social evolution than has previously been documented.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male‐mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Zipple

Roberts

Alberts

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Anthropology

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“…Researchers have suggested that evidence of fetal loss induced by threats to young conspecifics may appear in humans (Catalano, Saxton, Gemmill, & Hartig, ). Consistent with this suggestion, research finds indicators of adaptive fetal loss (eg, lower ratio of males to females at birth; lower ratio of live born male twins to male singletons) in historic and contemporary human populations that witnessed unusually frequent death among children (Catalano et al, , ; Saxton, Gemmill, & Catalano, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Following earlier research into reproductive suppression in humans (Catalano et al, ), we specified our independent variable as the odds of death among Swedes aged 1 to 9. Theoretical and empirical literature attributes reproductive suppression, at least in part, to signals of death among conspecifics between their birth and the onset of reproductive capacity (Bartoš et al, ; Labov, ; Palombit, ; Roberts et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As our dependent variable, we used annual cohort life expectancy, or the average lifespan of annual birth cohorts, for Swedes born from 1751 through 1800. We also included the odds of death among women of reproductive age as a covariate to control for the Trivers‐Willard Effect (Catalano et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fetal loss triggered by maternal sensing of threats to young conspecifics does not assume a relatively weak mother. Indeed, such loss appears an adaptive mechanism embedded in healthy females likely to encounter threats to their offspring (Catalano et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reproductive suppression and longevity in human birth cohorts

Saxton

Gemmill

Casey

et al. 2019

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives: Reproductive suppression refers to, among other phenomena, the termination of pregnancies in populations exposed to signals of death among young conspecifics. Extending the logic of reproduction suppression to humans has implications for health including that populations exposed to it should exhibit relatively great longevity. No research, however, has tested this prediction.Methods: We apply time-series methods to vital statistics from Sweden for the years 1751 through 1800 to test if birth cohorts exposed in utero to reproductive suppression exhibited lifespan different from expected. We use the odds of death among Swedes age 1 to 9 years to gauge exposure. As the dependent variable, we use cohort life expectancy. Our methods ensure autocorrelation cannot spuriously induce associations nor reduce the efficiency of our estimates.Results: Our findings imply that reproductive suppression increased the lifespan of 24 annual birth cohorts by at least 1.3 years over the 50-year test period, and that 12 of those cohorts exhibited increases of at least 1.7 years above expected. Conclusions:The best available data in which to search for evidence of reproductive suppression in humans support the argument that populations subjected to environments dangerous for children yield birth cohorts that exhibit unexpectedly great longevity.

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Restoration in Nature: Beyond the Conventional Narrative

Hartig

2021

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation

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The restoration perspective on human adaptation offers a broad view of relations between environment and health; however, it remains underutilized as a source of insight for nature-and-health studies. In this chapter, I start from the restoration perspective in showing ways to extend theory and research concerned with the benefits of nature experience. I first set out the basic premises of the restoration perspective and consider how it has come to have particular relevance for understanding the salutary values now commonly assigned to nature experience. I then discuss the currently conventional theoretical narrative about restorative effects of nature experience and organize some of its components in a general framework for restorative environments theory. Extending the framework, I put forward two additional theories. These call attention to the restoration of resources as held within closer relationships and as held collectively by members of a population. In closing, I consider ways to work with the general framework and further develop the narrative about nature, restoration, and health. The extensions made here raise important considerations for nature preservation efforts, urban planning, health promotion strategies, and ways of thinking about human–nature relations.

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Separating the Bruce and Trivers‐Willard effects in theory and in human data

Abstract: Attempts to identify mechanisms by which reproductive suppression affects fetal loss and characteristics of human birth cohorts should consider the Bruce Effect as an alternative to the Trivers-Willard Effect.

Cited by 14 publications

References 56 publications

Male‐mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Male‐mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Reproductive suppression and longevity in human birth cohorts

Restoration in Nature: Beyond the Conventional Narrative

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