Milk composition in a wild mammal: a physiological signature of phenological changes
| Autor: | Marco Festa-Bianchet, Fanie Pelletier, Alan A. Cohen, F. Guillaume Blanchet, François Rousseu, Limoilou-A. Renaud |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Population Growing season Weaning Biology Breeding 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences chemistry.chemical_compound Animal science Lactation medicine Animals Lactose education Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Mammals education.field_of_study Herbivore Sheep Phenology 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Maternal effect food and beverages medicine.anatomical_structure Milk chemistry Female Seasons |
| Zdroj: | Oecologia. 193(2) |
| ISSN: | 1432-1939 |
| Popis: | Understanding how spring phenology influences early life can provide important insights into drivers of future development and survival. We combined unique, long-term data from a bighorn sheep population and satellite-derived phenology indices to quantify the relative importance of maternal and environmental influences on milk composition and lamb overwinter survival. Based on 216 milk samples from 34 females monitored over 6 years, we found that longer snow-free and vegetation growing seasons increased milk fatty acid, iron and lactose concentrations. Structural equation modelling revealed no causality between milk energy content, lamb weaning mass and lamb overwinter survival. Our results suggest that spring conditions can affect milk energy content, but we did not detect any effect on lamb overwinter survival either directly or indirectly through lamb weaning mass. The effect of green-up date on milk composition and energy content suggests that herbivores living in seasonal environments, such as the bighorn sheep, might rely on a strategy intermediate between ‘capital’ and ‘income’ breeding when energy demands are high. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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