1. Do reproductive constraints or experience drive age-dependent space use in two large herbivores?
- Author
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Yannick Chaval, Pascal Marchand, Christian Itty, Anne Loison, A. Malagnino, A. J. M. Hewison, Nicolas Morellet, Bruno Cargnelutti, Mathieu Garel, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA ), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Swansea University, Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), Unité de recherche Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage (CEFS), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Zone Atelier Pyrénées-Garonne (ZA PYGAR), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Federation Departementale des Chasseurs de la Haute Garonne, Office Français de la Biodiversite, ANR-16-CE02-0010,Mov-It,Le mouvement des ongulés au sein de paysages hétérogènes: identification des processus comportementaux reliant les changements globaux aux performances démographiques et à la gestion spatialement explicite(2016), Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA), and Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,senescence ,Offspring ,Home range ,neonatal antipredator tactics ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Capreolus ,biology.animal ,[SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology ,Mating ,Ovis ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,seasonal variation ,Herbivore ,biology ,05 social sciences ,mate searching tactics ,15. Life on land ,biology.organism_classification ,animal movement ,daily distance travelled ,Roe deer ,Mouflon ,home range size ,Animal Science and Zoology ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,Demography - Abstract
International audience; Life histories are strongly age dependent, notably linked to the onset of reproductive maturity and subsequent senescence. Consequently, ageing is predicted to impact behaviour, through the expression of either mating tactics in males or neonatal antipredator tactics in females. However, the influence of ageing, and the associated reproductive activity, on spatial behaviour remains poorly investigated. In this regard, we quantified age- and sex-specific intra-annual variation in movement rates and space use of two large herbivores with contrasting life histories: the roe deer, Capreolus capreolus, an asocial species with a territorial male mating strategy and a hider neonatal tactic, and the Mediterranean mouflon, Ovis gmelini musimon × Ovis sp., a gregarious species with a roaming male mating strategy and a follower neonatal tactic. We expected age-related differences to be mostly related to (1) age-specific mating tactics during the rut for males and the presence/absence of offspring for females, and (2) experience and/or locomotory senescence otherwise. During the rutting period, older roe deer males travelled greater daily distances than younger males due to patrolling behaviours for territory defence, whereas older mouflon males travelled less than younger males, which often adopted coursing tactics to mate with females. During the birth period, reproductive females had smaller home ranges than nonreproductive females in roe deer, whereas no marked differences were observed in mouflon females. The most marked age-related variation in space use of mouflon occurred outside the reproductive periods; specifically, the oldest individuals travelled less far and had a smaller home range (females only) than younger individuals. Our findings illustrate how space use tactics vary within and between populations of large herbivores, providing strong evidence that age and reproductive activity are major determinants of their spatial behaviour. © 2020 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
- Published
- 2021