Highly Competitive Reindeer Males Control Female Behavior during the Rut

Body, Guillaume; Weladji, Robert B.; Holand, Øystein; Nieminen, Mauri

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095618

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The existence of this trade-off does not constrain, therefore, fission-fusion group dynamics. Consequently, harassment avoidance does not explain the observed decrease of fission-fusion group dynamics during the rut nor the increase of group size during the rut (Body et al 2015), which are best explained by the herding behaviour of males (Body et al 2014). An efficient strategy to get around this conflict or trade-off might be to decrease female foraging competition, for instance by maintaining long-term bonds among females as seen in feral horses (Cameron et al 2009), but this remains to be investigated in reindeer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Although being in a group has been widely reported to decrease the harassment level received by females when compared to solitary females Byers et al 1994), our results suggest that females are equally negatively affected in large and small mating groups. The increase of reindeer group size during the breeding season is not the result of a harassment avoidance through the dilution effect per se, but a consequence of male herding behaviour (Body et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Young males are known to have less developed social rutting behaviours than adult males, and to cause extra stress on females (Clutton-Brock and Parker 1992;Komers et al 1999;Tennenhouse et al 2012). Their behaviours when dominant, such as herding females, may also be less efficient (L'Italien et al 2012;Body et al 2014) and regularly turn into a chase. Females may also be responsible for this disturbance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Foraging competition in larger groups overrides harassment avoidance benefits in female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Uccheddu¹,

Body²,

Weladji³

et al. 2015

Oecologia

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Male harassment toward females during the breeding season may have a negative effect on their reproductive success by disturbing their foraging activity, thereby inducing somatic costs. Accordingly, it is predicted that females will choose mates based on their ability to provide protection or will aggregate into large groups to dilute per capita harassment level. Conversely, increasing group size may also lead to a decrease in foraging activity by increasing foraging competition, but this effect has rarely been considered in mating tactic studies. This study examined the importance of two non-exclusive hypotheses in explaining the variations of the female activity budget during the breeding season: the male harassment hypothesis, and the female foraging competition hypothesis. We used focal observations of female activity from known mating groups collected during the breeding season from a long-term (15 years) study on reindeer Rangifer tarandus. We found that females were more disturbed (i.e., spent less time feeding) in the presence of young dominant males, and marginally disturbed in the presence of satellite males, which supports the male harassment hypothesis. We also found that female disturbance level increased with group size, being independent of the adult sex ratio. Consequently, these results rejected the dilution effect, but strongly supported the foraging competition hypothesis. This study therefore highlights a potential conflict in female behaviour. Indeed, any gains from harassment protection were negated by an increase of 6-7 females, since adult males lead larger groups than young males.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Foraging competition in larger groups overrides harassment avoidance benefits in female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Uccheddu¹,

Body²,

Weladji³

et al. 2015

Oecologia

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“…We found that deer groups increased both their MGS and NDR immediately following fission, which should increase the efficacy of their extensive search mode [49]. The release in movement constraints that result from group fission could explain the weak group cohesion that has often been reported in many gregarious foragers [50–53]. We know that the probability of observing the fission of a roe deer group increased with group size [38] and that the larger groups are slower [20].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased Exploration Capacity Promotes Group Fission in Gregarious Foraging Herbivores

Lardy¹,

Fortin²,

Pays³

2016

PLoS ONE

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Many gregarious species display rapid fission-fusion dynamics with individuals frequently leaving their groups to reunite or to form new ones soon after. The adaptive value of such ephemeral associations might reflect a frequent tilt in the balance between the costs and benefits of maintaining group cohesion. The lack of information on the short-term advantages of group fission, however, hampers our understanding of group dynamics. We investigated the effect of group fission on area-restricted search, a search tactic that is commonly used when food distribution is spatially autocorrelated. Specifically, we determine if roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) improve key aspects of their extensive search mode immediately after fission. We found that groups indeed moved faster and farther over time immediately after than before fission. This gain was highest for the smallest group that resulted from fission, which was more likely to include the fission’s initiator. Sex of group members further mediated the immediate gain in search capacity, as post-fission groups moved away at farthest rate when they were only comprised of males. Our study suggests that social conflicts during the extensive search mode can promote group fission and, as such, can be a key determinant of group fission-fusion dynamics that are commonly observed in gregarious herbivores.

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“…), sex (Winnie and Creel , Body et al. , Patrick and Weimerskirch ), and reproductive status (Steyaert et al. , Lesmerises et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of behavioral marginality on survival of an alpine ungulate

2019

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Inter‐individual variability in behavior has been studied extensively for a wide range of species. However, few researchers have considered marginality, defined as the degree to which a choice made by an individual is located at the margins of the distribution of all possible choices available to a particular population. We explored the influence of marginal behaviors on the probability of survival of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). We used GPS collars to record the movement and fate of 43 caribou and distributed their habitat use behavior along two axes of a multidimensional scaling. We used Cox proportional‐hazards models to evaluate whether marginality had an effect on mortality risk. We found that individuals that exhibited marginal behavior had higher mortality risk than more conformist individuals. Caribou is a social species; thus, sharing a common habitat use strategy is likely an adaptation for minimizing the risk of predation. Our findings provide an empirical link between behavior and survival, contributing to our understanding of the decline of Rangifer across much of its Canadian distribution.

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Highly Competitive Reindeer Males Control Female Behavior during the Rut

Cited by 13 publications

References 59 publications

Foraging competition in larger groups overrides harassment avoidance benefits in female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Foraging competition in larger groups overrides harassment avoidance benefits in female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Increased Exploration Capacity Promotes Group Fission in Gregarious Foraging Herbivores

Effect of behavioral marginality on survival of an alpine ungulate

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