Reproductive success delays moult phenology in a polar mammal
| Autor: | Roxanne S. Beltran, Jennifer M. Burns, J. Ward Testa, Amy L. Kirkham, Greg A. Breed |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Male Leptonychotes weddellii Seals Earless media_common.quotation_subject Climate Change Zoology Climate change lcsh:Medicine Biology Article 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Seasonal breeder Animals lcsh:Science media_common Multidisciplinary Seals Reproductive success Phenology Arctic Regions Contraception/Reproduction Reproduction lcsh:R Annual cycle biology.organism_classification 030104 developmental biology Mammal lcsh:Q Earless Female 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | Scientific reports, vol 9, iss 1 Scientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2019) Scientific Reports |
| Popis: | Animals can respond to dynamic environments through phenological plasticity of life history events; however, changes in one part of the annual cycle can diminish the success of subsequent life history events. Our aims were to determine the associations between reproduction and moult phenology across years and to quantify phenological plasticity across varying environmental conditions. We conducted demographic surveys of 4,252 flipper-tagged Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica during four austral summers. At each sighting, seals were assigned a moult code based on the visible presence of new fur and the start date of each animal’s moult was back-calculated. Reproductive success and parturition dates were obtained for the breeding season prior to and following the moult. We found that successful reproduction delayed moult by 16 days relative to non-parturient females. Phenology of the intervening moult was indicative of previous reproductive dynamics but not predictive of subsequent reproductive outcomes. Across years, moult phenology varied by about two weeks and covaried strongly with sea ice break-out timing for all reproductive categories. Our findings suggest these polar mammals have some flexibility within the annual cycle that allows adjustment of moult phenology to fluctuating environmental conditions without compromising future reproductive success. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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