Journal
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Volume 261, Issue -, Pages 341-344Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1017/S0952836903004114
Keywords
age; body weight; cervids; rutting; life history; Rangifer tarandus
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In sexually dimorphic ungulates, male reproductive success depends on fighting with other males for access to females during a brief rutting season. Large body size is necessary for success in intrasexual competition, and a few large-sized males are often able to monopolize access to female groups. Earlier studies have reported that reproductive effort increases with age until prime-age is reached, and one study that population density lowered effort in (older) males. No study has directly assessed whether there is with in-age-class variation in effort resulting from varying levels of intra-male competition. It is reported here the weight loss during the rutting season of 54 individual male reindeer Rang fer tarandus coming from eight herds with varying density (3.3-6.0 deer/km(2)) and sex ratio (4-28% males). In agreement with earlier studies, reproductive effort was lower for young (1- to 2-year-old) than for prime-aged (3- to 5-year-old) males both on an absolute and relative scale. Among I-year-old males (n = 33), effort was lower as sex ratio became closer to even, but density during the rutting season had no effect. This suggests that yearling males take a more active role when prime-aged males are absent. In addition to the insight into male ungulate life history, understanding male rutting behaviour may also have implications for population dynamics.
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