Intermittent breeding and the dynamics of resource allocation to reproduction, growth and survival

Baron, Jean Pierre; Galliard, Jean‐François Le; Ferrière, Régis; Tully, Thomas N.

doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12023

Cited by 31 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The decision to nest in a given year is likely to result from the combination of an assessment of body condition and favourable environmental conditions (e.g. Baron et al 2013). For example, annual breeding probability is correlated with sea surface temperatures (Chaloupka 2001, Saba et al 2007, Mazaris et al 2009, del Monte-Luna et al 2012, which may correlate with favourable conditions.…”

Section: Energy Allocation Shiftmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, post-maturity growth phases are expected to vary temporally (e.g. Harris & Ludwig 2004, Baron et al 2013, Folkvord et al 2014, declining with age and occurring straight after breeding events in order to increase future reproduction (Heino & Kaitala 1996, Kozłowski 1996. ASM and SSM inherently result from the interaction of intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing somatic growth prior to sexual maturity (Bernardo 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growth rates of adult sea turtles

Omeyer¹,

Godley²,

Broderick³

2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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Indeterminate growth, i.e. growth that persists throughout life, is common in longlived reptiles. Because fecundity and body size tend to be correlated in such species, individuals face a life-history trade-off at sexual maturity. Saturation tagging and intensive monitoring at nesting grounds can potentially provide opportunities to accumulate data on individual measurements and reproductive output. Until recently, however, shortcomings from these methods have prevented the testing of theories on resource allocation between growth and reproduction at sexual maturity in wild populations of sea turtles. Here, we review the state of knowledge of growth rates in adult sea turtles and potential life-history trade-offs. We found that post-maturity growth rates varied among ocean basins. They appeared highest in the Atlantic Ocean for both green turtles Chelonia mydas and hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata, and highest in the Mediterranean Sea for loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta. For other species, there are too few studies at present to allow for intraspecific comparison. Additionally, we found no significant difference in mean female compound annual growth rates among species and ocean basins. Although captive studies have provided great insight into changes in energy allocation at sexual maturity and life-history trade-offs, this review highlights the lack of data on wild animals regarding changes in post-maturity growth rates and reproductive output over time. Such data are desirable to further our understanding of energy allocation, growth and ageing in wild sea turtles. They are further required to assess the status of species and to understand population dynamics for both conservation and management.

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Section: Energy Allocation Shiftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth rates of adult sea turtles

Omeyer¹,

Godley²,

Broderick³

2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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“…Prey availability is the primary determinant of body condition in snakes, and body condition in turn determines the ability of females to reproduce in a given season (Beaupre , Baron et al. ). Mesocosm experiments on amphibians and other taxa have shown that food availability, rather than pollution per se , affects body condition or mass (Eeva et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a mining‐altered environment on individual fitness of amphibians and reptiles

et al. 2016

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Pollution can affect wildlife directly through toxicity and indirectly through changes in biotic and abiotic factors, however, how these mechanisms interact in affecting free‐ranging animals remains poorly understood. By examining effects on individual fitness proxies, we aimed to determine the mechanisms behind documented amphibian and reptile declines in barren landscapes where vegetation was nearly decimated due to atmospheric metal and sulfur deposition from smelting operations in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. We examined individual characteristics of snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis, Storeria occipitomaculata) and frogs (Lithobates clamitans, L. pipiens, L. septentrionalis) in replicated barren and reference sites, including standard metabolic rates (in snakes), body condition (all species), female reproductive status (snakes), limb deformity (frogs), and fluctuating asymmetry (all species). Frogs in barren sites (except L. septentrionalis) were in poor body condition, and all but one case of limb deformities in frogs were found in barren sites. However, neither frogs nor snakes exhibited elevated frequency of fluctuating asymmetry in barren sites. Standard metabolic rates (SMR) were not elevated in either snake species, suggesting that metal toxicity does not present an energetic burden. Instead, female T. sirtalis from barren sites exhibited lower SMR and were in poor body condition, which is a predicted response to reduced food intake. By contrast, SMR and body condition of S. occipitomaculata were not different between barren and reference sites. While physiological responses differed between T. sirtalis and S. occipitomaculata, both species exhibited lower reproductive rates (proportion of pregnant females) in barren sites compared to reference sites. Thus, energy deficiency may explain reduced reproduction in T. sirtalis while reduced availability of suitable gestation microhabitat may be a limiting factor for S. occipitomaculata. Populations in smelting‐impacted habitats include individuals with potentially compromised fitness. The low values of our measured fitness proxies appear to have resulted from pollution‐induced changes in biotic and abiotic factors, in addition to (for frogs) or rather than (for snakes) from the direct toxicity. These results suggest that impact assessment based solely on toxicological data and species distributions can underestimate the full impacts of pollution, highlighting the need for integrated examination at multiple levels of biological organization.

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“…Intermittent breeding is widespread among vertebrate taxa (e.g., fish: Jørgensen, Ernande, Fiksen, & Dieckmann, , amphibians: Muths, Scherer, & Lambert, , reptiles: Baron, Le Galliard, Ferrière, & Tully, , birds: Cam, Hines, Monnat, Nichols, & Danchin, and mammals: Pilastro, Tavecchia, & Marin, ). Some long‐lived iteroparous species such as biennially breeding albatross (Barbraud & Weimerskirch, ) mostly follow strictly intermittent breeding tactics due to the long time required to raise offspring and the need to sequester body condition necessary for successful breeding at a subsequent occasion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making use of multiple surveys: Estimating breeding probability using a multievent‐robust design capture–recapture model

Oosthuizen

Pradel

Bester

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Increased environmental stochasticity due to climate change will intensify temporal variance in the life‐history traits, and especially breeding probabilities, of long‐lived iteroparous species. These changes may decrease individual fitness and population viability and is therefore important to monitor. In wild animal populations with imperfect individual detection, breeding probabilities are best estimated using capture–recapture methods. However, in many vertebrate species (e.g., amphibians, turtles, seabirds), nonbreeders are unobservable because they are not tied to a territory or breeding location. Although unobservable states can be used to model temporary emigration of nonbreeders, there are disadvantages to having unobservable states in capture–recapture models. The best solution to deal with unobservable life‐history states is therefore to eliminate them altogether. Here, we achieve this objective by fitting novel multievent‐robust design models which utilize information obtained from multiple surveys conducted throughout the year. We use this approach to estimate annual breeding probabilities of capital breeding female elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). Conceptually, our approach parallels a multistate version of the Barker/robust design in that it combines robust design capture data collected during discrete breeding seasons with observations made at other times of the year. A substantial advantage of our approach is that the nonbreeder state became “observable” when multiple data sources were analyzed together. This allowed us to test for the existence of state‐dependent survival (with some support found for lower survival in breeders compared to nonbreeders), and to estimate annual breeding transitions to and from the nonbreeder state with greater precision (where current breeders tended to have higher future breeding probabilities than nonbreeders). We used program E‐SURGE (2.1.2) to fit the multievent‐robust design models, with uncertainty in breeding state assignment (breeder, nonbreeder) being incorporated via a hidden Markov process. This flexible modeling approach can easily be adapted to suit sampling designs from numerous species which may be encountered during and outside of discrete breeding seasons.

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Intermittent breeding and the dynamics of resource allocation to reproduction, growth and survival

Cited by 31 publications

References 47 publications

Growth rates of adult sea turtles

Growth rates of adult sea turtles

Effects of a mining‐altered environment on individual fitness of amphibians and reptiles

Making use of multiple surveys: Estimating breeding probability using a multievent‐robust design capture–recapture model

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