Effects of population density on static allometry between horn length and body mass in mountain ungulates

Little is known about the effects of environmental variation on allometric relationships of condition-dependent traits, especially in wild populations. We estimated sex-specific static allometry between horn length and body mass in four populations of mountain ungulates that experienced periods of contrasting density over the course of the study. These species displayed contrasting sexual dimorphism in horn size; high dimorphism in Capra ibex and Ovis canadensis and low dimorphism in Rupicapra rupicapra and Oreamnos americanus. The effects of density on static allometric slopes were weak and inconsistent while allometric intercepts were generally lower at high density, especially in males from species with high sexual dimorphism in horn length. These results confirm that static allometric slopes are more canalized than allometric intercepts against environmental variation induced by changes in population density.

Automated summary

The study revealed that there are gender-specific differences in the static allometry between horn length and body mass in different mountain ungulate populations, and these differences can be influenced by population density. In the face of environmental variation, static allometric slopes are more stable than allometric intercepts.