The Relative Importance of Life‐History Variables to Population Growth Rate in Mammals: Cole’s Prediction Revisited

Oli, Madan K.; Dobson, F. Stephen

doi:10.1086/367591

Cited by 233 publications

(228 citation statements)

References 148 publications

(134 reference statements)

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“…Nevertheless, attributing large reductions in rabbit populations to an apex predator appears to contradict ecological theory. Reproductive parameters, not survival rates, should most influence population growth of fecund, early-maturing species like marsh rabbits [12]. One explanation for this contradiction in theory is that marsh rabbits were naive to predation by an introduced predator such as the Burmese python.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Introduced predators, including snakes, have reduced or eliminated fauna on islands [9][10][11], yet there are no accounts of a lone introduced apex predator (apart from humans) removing a functionally diverse, continental mammal community. Additionally, ecological theory provides little support for the hypothesis that an apex predator could extirpate small, broadly dispersed, fecund, generalist herbivores [12][13][14]. To test the hypothesis that pythons are driving the decline of mammal populations, we experimentally manipulated marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris) populations in ENP.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades

et al. 2015

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To address the ongoing debate over the impact of invasive species on native terrestrial wildlife, we conducted a large-scale experiment to test the hypothesis that invasive Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) were a cause of the precipitous decline of mammals in Everglades National Park (ENP). Evidence linking pythons to mammal declines has been indirect and there are reasons to question whether pythons, or any predator, could have caused the precipitous declines seen across a range of mammalian functional groups. Experimentally manipulating marsh rabbits, we found that pythons accounted for 77% of rabbit mortalities within 11 months of their translocation to ENP and that python predation appeared to preclude the persistence of rabbit populations in ENP. On control sites, outside of the park, no rabbits were killed by pythons and 71% of attributable marsh rabbit mortalities were classified as mammal predations. Burmese pythons pose a serious threat to the faunal communities and ecological functioning of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, which will probably spread as python populations expand their range.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades

et al. 2015

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“…Most animal and plant species can be found in a wide range of ecologically distinct habitats, and as a result, individuals of the same species may experience substantial variation in demographic rates, such as survival, growth, and fecundity. These demographic heterogeneities between individuals or groups of individuals can have considerable population dynamical consequences and can generate evolutionary change (e.g., Rees et al 2000;Saether et al 2002;Oli and Dobson 2003;Pfister and Stevens 2003;Rose et al 2005;Benton et al 2006;Burd et al 2006;Coulson et al 2006;Metcalf and Pavard 2007;Sletvold and Grindeland 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life‐History Variation in Contrasting Habitats: Flowering Decisions in a Clonal Perennial Herb (Veratrum album)

Hesse¹,

Rees²,

Müller‐Schärer³

2008

The American Naturalist

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Quantifying intraspecific demographic variation provides a powerful tool for exploring the diversity and evolution of life histories. We investigate how habitat-specific demographic variation and the production of multiple offspring types affect the population dynamics and evolution of delayed reproduction in a clonal perennial herb with monocarpic ramets (white hellebore). In this species, flowering ramets produce both seeds and asexual offspring. Data on ramet demography are used to parameterize integral projection models, which allow the effects of habitat-specific demographic variation and reproductive mode on population dynamics to be quantified. We then use the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) approach to predict the flowering strategy-the relationship between flowering probability and size. This approach is extended to allow offspring types to have different demographies and density-dependent responses. Our results demonstrate that the evolutionarily stable flowering strategies differ substantially among habitats and are in excellent agreement with the observed strategies. Reproductive mode, however, has little effect on the ESSs. Using analytical approximations, we show that flowering decisions are predominantly determined by the asymptotic size of individuals rather than variation in survival or size-fecundity relationships. We conclude that habitat is an important aspect of the selective environment and a significant factor in predicting the ESSs.Keywords: demographic variation, evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS), integral projection models, monocarpic ramets, population dynamics, reproductive mode. Understanding how different patterns of demographic variation drive the establishment and evolution of life histories is one of the main goals of evolutionary ecology (Fox et al. 2001). Most animal and plant species can be found in a wide range of ecologically distinct habitats, and as a result, individuals of the same species may experience substantial variation in demographic rates, such as survival, growth, and fecundity. These demographic heterogeneities between individuals or groups of individuals can have considerable population dynamical consequences and can generate evolutionary change (e. The role of demography as a driving force in life-history evolution is widely recognized, yet relatively few studies have quantified how demographic rates, and consequently life-history traits, vary among individuals and populations of the same species (but see, e.g., Bronikowski et al. 2002;Dorken and Barrett 2003;Frederiksen et al. 2005;Lesica and Young 2005). Instead, much of our knowledge about the diversity and evolution of life histories comes from comparative analyses at the interspecific level. This is surprising, given that intraspecific variation allows the study of ecological constraints on life histories without the confounding effect of phylogeny (Frederiksen et al. 2005). Moreover, across-species comparisons, which are often based on only a limited number of populations per species, m...

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“…First, our graphical analyses revealed that life-history speed can be shaped by both the temporal frequency of favorable environment states and the patterning of environment states through time. In constant environments, life-history variables such as age at maturity and generation time provide a measure of the position of a given population along the slow-tofast life-history continuum (Charlesworth 1994;Heppell et al 2000;Oli and Dobson 2003;Gaillard et al 2005;Stahl and Oli 2006). Our analysis revealed that in stochastic environments, lifetime reproductive success and population growth rate are reliable proxies for life-history speed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Correlative Changes in Life-History Variables in Response to Environmental Change in a Model Organism

Smallegange

Deere

Coulson

2014

The American Naturalist

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Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. abstract: Global change alters the environment, including increases in the frequency of (un)favorable events and shifts in environmental noise color. However, how these changes impact the dynamics of populations, and whether these can be predicted accurately has been largely unexamined. Here we combine recently developed population modeling approaches and theory in stochastic demography to explore how life history, morphology, and average fitness respond to changes in the frequency of favorable environmental conditions and in the color of environmental noise in a model organism (an acarid mite). We predict that different life-history variables respond correlatively to changes in the environment, and we identify different life-history variables, including lifetime reproductive success, as indicators of average fitness and life-history speed across stochastic environments. Depending on the shape of adult survival rate, generation time can be used as an indicator of the response of populations to stochastic change, as in the deterministic case. This work is a useful step toward understanding population dynamics in stochastic environments, including how stochastic change may shape the evolution of life histories.

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The Relative Importance of Life‐History Variables to Population Growth Rate in Mammals: Cole’s Prediction Revisited

Cited by 233 publications

References 148 publications

Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades

Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades

Life‐History Variation in Contrasting Habitats: Flowering Decisions in a Clonal Perennial Herb (Veratrum album)

Correlative Changes in Life-History Variables in Response to Environmental Change in a Model Organism

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