scholarly journals Is degree of sociality associated with reproductive senescence? A comparative analysis across birds and mammals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Csongor I. Vágási ◽  
Orsolya Vincze ◽  
Jean-François Lemaître ◽  
Péter L. Pap ◽  
Victor Ronget ◽  
...  

Our understanding on how widespread reproductive senescence is in the w ild and how the onset and rate of reproductive senescence vary among species in relation to life histories and lifestyles is currently limited. More specifically, whether the species-specific degree of sociality is linked to the occurrence, onset and rate of reproductive senescence remains unknown. Here, we investigate these questions using phylogenetic comparative analyses across 36 bird and 101 mammal species encompassing a wide array of life histories, lifestyles and social traits. We found that female reproductive senescence (1) is widespread and occurs with similar frequency (about two thirds) in birds and mammals; (2) occurs later in life and is slower in birds than in similar-sized mammals; (3) occurs later in life and is lower with an increasingly slower pace of life in both vertebrate classes; and (4) is only weakly associated, if any, with the degree of sociality in both classes after accounting for the effect of body size and pace of life. However, when removing the effect of species differences in pace of life, a higher degree of sociality was associated with later and weaker reproductive senescence in females, which suggests that degree of sociality is either indirectly related to reproductive senescence via the pace of life or simply a direct outcome of the pace of life.Subject Areasecology, evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1823) ◽  
pp. 20190744
Author(s):  
Csongor I. Vágási ◽  
Orsolya Vincze ◽  
Jean-François Lemaître ◽  
Péter L. Pap ◽  
Victor Ronget ◽  
...  

Our understanding on how widespread reproductive senescence is in the wild and how the onset and rate of reproductive senescence vary among species in relation to life histories and lifestyles is currently limited. More specifically, whether the species-specific degree of sociality is linked to the occurrence, onset and rate of reproductive senescence remains unknown. Here, we investigate these questions using phylogenetic comparative analyses across 36 bird and 101 mammal species encompassing a wide array of life histories, lifestyles and social traits. We found that female reproductive senescence: (i) is widespread and occurs with similar frequency (about two-thirds) in birds and mammals; (ii) occurs later in life and is slower in birds than in similar-sized mammals; (iii) occurs later in life and is slower with an increasingly slower pace of life in both vertebrate classes; and (iv) is only weakly associated, if any, with the degree of sociality in both classes after accounting for the effect of body size and pace of life. However, when removing the effect of species differences in pace of life, a higher degree of sociality was associated with later and weaker reproductive senescence in females, which suggests that the degree of sociality is either indirectly related to reproductive senescence via the pace of life or simply a direct outcome of the pace of life. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Ageing and sociality: why, when and how does sociality change ageing patterns?’


1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2286-2299 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.A. Lautenschlager

Reviewed studies of the effects of forest herbicide applications on wildlife often lacked replication, pretreatment information, and (or) were conducted for only one or two growing seasons after treatment. Because of these problems, as well as the use of dissimilar sampling techniques, study conclusions have sometimes been contradictory. A review of eight studies of the effects of herbicide treatments on northern songbird populations in regenerating clearcuts indicates that total songbird populations are seldom reduced during the growing season after treatment. Densities of species that use early successional brushy, deciduous cover are sometimes reduced, while densities of species which commonly use more open areas, sometimes increase. A review of 14 studies of the effects of herbicide treatments on small mammals indicates that like songbirds, small mammal responses are species specific. Some species are unaffected, while some select and others avoid herbicide-treated areas. Only studies that use kill or removal trapping to study small mammal responses show density reductions associated with herbicide treatment. It seems that some small mammal species may be reluctant to venture into disturbed areas, although residents in those areas are apparently not affected by the disturbance. Fourteen relevant studies examined the effects of conifer release treatments on moose and deer foods and habitat use. Conifer release treatments reduce the availability of moose browse for as long as four growing seasons after treatment. The degree of reduction during the growing season after treatment varies with the herbicide and rate used. Deer use of treated areas remains unchanged or increases during the first growing season after treatment. Eight years after treating a naturally regenerated spruce–fir stand browse was three to seven times more abundant on treated than on control plots (depending on the chemical and rate used). Forage quality (nitrogen, ash, and moisture) of crop trees increased one growing season after the soil-active herbicide simazine was applied to control competition around outplanted 3-year-old balsam fir seedlings.


2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine M. Hille ◽  
Caren B. Cooper
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Munyandorero

The recruitment compensation metrics, the stock–recruit steepness (h) and compensation ratio (κ), are difficult to estimate, yet they are integral components of contemporary fishery models. To aid in the estimation of κ and h, a hybrid method to construct their prior distributions for a species is developed. The method is hybrid because it integrates (i) a meta-analysis of the relationship between maximum rates of recruit production (α) and asymptotic lengths obtained across fish species of different life histories and (ii) species-specific unfished spawning biomass per recruit (Φ0). This method is applied to five finfish species found off the East Coast of the United States. Uncertainty is introduced by sampling growth parameters, α, and natural mortality and — through Monte Carlo simulations — propagated into Φ0, κ, and h for the Beverton–Holt and Ricker stock–recruit relationships. Descriptive statistics and parameters from probability density functions of the simulated distributions of κ and h are generated. The method developed requires fewer inputs than the reproductive ecology method while likewise allowing the development of species-specific statistics for κ and h. These statistics, rather than their counterparts generated from classical meta-analyses, are better suited for use in fishery models.


Oryx ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Amori ◽  
Spartaco Gippoliti

AbstractRodents account for 40 per cent of living mammal species. Nevertheless, despite an increased interest in biodiversity conservation and their high species richness, Rodentia are often neglected by conservationists. We attempt for the first time a world-wide evaluation of rodent conservation priorities at the genus level. Given the low popularity of the order, we considered it desirable to discuss identified priorities within the framework of established biodiversity priority areas of the world. Two families and 62 genera are recognized as threatened. Our analyses highlight the Philippines, New Guinea, Sulawesi, the Caribbean, China temperate forests and the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil as the most important (for their high number of genera) ‘threat-spots’ for rodent conservation. A few regions, mainly drylands, are singled out as important areas for rodent conservation but are not generally recognized in global biodiversity assessments. These are the remaining forests of Togo, extreme ‘western Sahel’, the Turanian and Mongolian-Manchurian steppes and the desert of the Horn of Africa. Resources for conservation must be allocated first to recognized threat spots and to those restricted-range genera which may depend on species-specific strategies for their survival.


2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1827) ◽  
pp. 20152152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Crees ◽  
Chris Carbone ◽  
Robert S. Sommer ◽  
Norbert Benecke ◽  
Samuel T. Turvey

The use of short-term indicators for understanding patterns and processes of biodiversity loss can mask longer-term faunal responses to human pressures. We use an extensive database of approximately 18 700 mammalian zooarchaeological records for the last 11 700 years across Europe to reconstruct spatio-temporal dynamics of Holocene range change for 15 large-bodied mammal species. European mammals experienced protracted, non-congruent range losses, with significant declines starting in some species approximately 3000 years ago and continuing to the present, and with the timing, duration and magnitude of declines varying individually between species. Some European mammals became globally extinct during the Holocene, whereas others experienced limited or no significant range change. These findings demonstrate the relatively early onset of prehistoric human impacts on postglacial biodiversity, and mirror species-specific patterns of mammalian extinction during the Late Pleistocene. Herbivores experienced significantly greater declines than carnivores, revealing an important historical extinction filter that informs our understanding of relative resilience and vulnerability to human pressures for different taxa. We highlight the importance of large-scale, long-term datasets for understanding complex protracted extinction processes, although the dynamic pattern of progressive faunal depletion of European mammal assemblages across the Holocene challenges easy identification of ‘static’ past baselines to inform current-day environmental management and restoration.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 2350-2363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan R. E. Stanley ◽  
Ian R. Bradbury ◽  
Claudio DiBacco ◽  
Paul V. R. Snelgrove ◽  
Simon R. Thorrold ◽  
...  

Abstract We evaluated the influence of environmental exposure of juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) to inform interpretations of natal origins and movement patterns using otolith geochemistry. Laboratory rearing experiments were conducted with a variety of temperature (∼5, 8.5, and 12°C) and salinity (∼25, 28.5, and 32 PSU) combinations. We measured magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), strontium (Sr), and barium (Ba), expressed as a ratio to calcium (Ca), using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes using isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometry. Temperature and salinity significantly affected all elements and isotopes measured, except salinity on Mg:Ca. We detected significant interactions among temperature and salinity for Mn:Ca and Ba:Ca partition coefficients (ratio of otolith chemistry to water chemistry), with significant temperature effects only detected in the 32 and 28.5 PSU salinity treatments. Similarly, we detected a significant interaction between temperature and salinity in incorporation of δ13C, with a significant temperature effect except at intermediate salinity. These results support the contention that environmental mediation of otolith composition varies among species, thus limiting the ability of generalized models to infer life history patterns from chemistry. Our results provide essential baseline information detailing environmental influence on juvenile Atlantic cod otolith composition, punctuating the importance of laboratory validations to translate species-specific otolith composition when inferring in situ life histories and movements.


Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (13-14) ◽  
pp. 1517-1543 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. White ◽  
T.J. Kells ◽  
A.J. Wilson

While among-individual variation in behaviour, or personality, is common across taxa, its mechanistic underpinnings are poorly understood. The Pace of Life syndrome (POLS) provides one possible explanation for maintenance of personality differences. POLS predicts that metabolic differences will covary with behavioural variation, with high metabolism associated with risk prone behaviour and ‘faster’ life histories (e.g., high growth, early maturation). We used a repeated measures approach, assaying metabolic traits (rate and scope), behaviour and growth to test these predictions in the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata. We found that while individuals varied significantly in their behaviour and growth rate, more risk prone individuals did not grow significantly faster. Furthermore, after accounting for body size there was no support for among-individual variation in metabolic traits. Thus, while personality differences are clearly present in this population, they do not covary with metabolism and the POLS framework is not supported.


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