Individual differences in reproductive costs examined using multi-state methods

Moyes, Kelly and Morgan, Byron J. T. and Morris, Alison and Morris, Sean J. and Clutton-Brock, Tim H. and Coulson, Tim (2011) Individual differences in reproductive costs examined using multi-state methods. Journal of Animal Ecology, 80 (2). pp. 456-465. ISSN 0021-8790. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided)

Abstract

1. Trade-offs among life-history traits are common because individuals have to partition limited resources between multiple traits. Reproductive costs are generally assumed to be high, resulting in reduced survival and fecundity in the following year. However, it is common to find positive rather than negative correlations between life-history traits. 2. Here, we use a data set from the individual-based study of red deer on the Isle of Rum to exam- ine how these costs vary between individuals and at different ages, using multi-state mark–recap- ture methodology. 3. Females that had reproduced frequently in the past incurred lower costs of reproduction in terms of survival in the following year and were more likely to reproduce in two consecutive years. Older individuals and those that had not reproduced frequently exhibited higher costs. 4. These results highlight the importance of considering heterogeneity and individual quality when examining trade-offs and demonstrate the effectiveness of using detailed long-term data sets to explore life-history strategies using multi-state mark–recapture models.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled keywords:	individual quality, mark–recapture, red deer, survival, trade-off
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics (inc Computing science) > QA276 Mathematical statistics Q Science > QH Natural history > QH541 Ecology
Divisions:	Faculties > Sciences > School of Mathematics Statistics and Actuarial Science
Depositing User:	Byron Morgan
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2013 17:39 UTC
Last Modified:	02 Jun 2014 11:25 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/33012 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)