Journal
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY
Volume 89, Issue 4, Pages 874-881Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1644/07-MAMM-A-146.1
Keywords
age of 1st reproduction; costs of reproduction; direct fitness; inclusive fitness; indirect fitness; life-history theory; Marmota flaviventris; reproductive strategy; reproductive suppression; yellow-bellied marmot
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [DEB02-24953, G-16354, GB-1980, GB-6123, GB-32494, BMS74-21193, DEB78-07327, BSR-8121231, BSR-9614690, BSR-9006772]
- Florida Agricultural Research Station
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The contribution of indirect fitness to inclusive fitness is expected to increase as the reproductive skew increases, with indirect fitness being the only component Of Inclusive fitness of sterile individuals in eusocial species. However, the relative contribution of indirect fitness to inclusive fitness has rarely been evaluated empirically. Using data from a long-term study (1962-2003). we show that female yellow-bellied marmots that have a later age of 1st successful reproduction incur a substantial loss of direct fitness with no corresponding gain in indirect fitness. Additionally. although females that survive to reproductive age but do not successfully reproduce have a greater indirect fitness than those that reproduce at least once, indirect fitness benefits of foregoing reproduction are insufficient to compensate for the loss of direct fitness resulting from later reproduction. Although indirect fitness composed 22.2% of the inclusive fitness of females that reproduced at least once, females that reproduced Lit least once had 2.3 times higher inclusive fitness than those that survived to reproductive age but never reproduced. These results suggest that, in yellow-bellied marmots and other species with similar life histories, the contribution of indirect fitness to inclusive fitness does not compensate for loss of direct fitness.
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