Authors
Sam MJG Steyaert, Jon E Swenson, Andreas Zedrosser
Publication date
2014/2
Journal
Ecology and Evolution
Volume
4
Issue
3
Pages
300-310
Description
Sexually selected infanticide (SSI) is often presumed to be rare among seasonal breeders, because it would require a near immediate return to estrus after the loss of an entire litter during the mating season. We evaluated changes in reproductive strategies and the reproductive fate of females that experienced litter loss during the mating season in a seasonal breeder with strong evidence for SSI, the brown bear. First, we used a long‐term demographic dataset (1986–2011) to document that a large majority of females (>91%) that lose their entire litter during the mating season in fact do enter estrus, mate, and give birth during the subsequent birthing season. Second, we used high‐resolution movement data (2005–2011) to evaluate how females changed reproductive strategies after losing their entire litter during the mating season. We hypothesized that females would shift from the sedentary lifestyle typical for …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
SMJG Steyaert, JE Swenson, A Zedrosser - Ecology and Evolution, 2014