Large offspring have enhanced lifetime reproductive success: Long‐term carry‐over effects of weaning size in gray seals (<i>Halichoerus grypus</i>)

Badger, Janelle; Bowen, W. Don; Heyer, Cornelia E. den; Breed, Greg A.

doi:10.1002/ece3.10095

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…First, we broadened the focus to include not only pup birth weight and survival, but also growth, inferred from repeated measurements of the same individuals. Understanding the effects of inbreeding on early growth is important because body size at weaning is known to influence subadult survival and recruitment success in several pinniped species 52,57,[63][64][65] . Second, genetic parentage analysis allowed us to confirm the maternity of the majority of pups, allowing us to jointly analyse individual and maternal inbreeding effects for all three traits.…”

Section: Study Design and Comparison To Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Little evidence of inbreeding depression for birth mass, survival and growth in Antarctic fur seal pups

Paijmans,

Berthelsen,

Nagel

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Inbreeding depression, the loss of offspring fitness due to consanguineous mating, is generally detrimental for individual performance and population viability. We investigated inbreeding effects in a declining population of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at Bird Island, South Georgia. Here, localised warming has reduced the availability of the seal’s staple diet, Antarctic krill, leading to a temporal increase in the strength of selection against inbred offspring, which are increasingly failing to recruit into the adult breeding population. However, it remains unclear whether selection operates before or after nutritional independence at weaning. We therefore used microsatellite data from 885 pups and their mothers, and SNP array data from 98 mother–offspring pairs, to quantify the effects of individual and maternal inbreeding on three important neonatal fitness traits: birth mass, survival and growth. We did not find any clear or consistent effects of offspring or maternal inbreeding on any of these traits. This suggests that selection filters inbred individuals out of the population as juveniles during the time window between weaning and recruitment. Our study brings into focus a poorly understood life-history stage and emphasises the importance of understanding the ecology and threats facing juvenile pinnipeds.

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Section: Study Design and Comparison To Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As body mass at weaning is an important predictor of juvenile survival in pinnipeds 52,57,[63][64][65] , we hypothesised that the higher recruitment success of outbred individuals might be explained by increased growth rates during early life. We therefore used two approaches to quantify pup growth.…”

Section: Pup Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little evidence of inbreeding depression for birth mass, survival and growth in Antarctic fur seal pups

Paijmans,

Berthelsen,

Nagel

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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show abstract

“…The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted January 13, 2024. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.12.575355 doi: bioRxiv preprint survival and recruitment success in several pinniped species 45,50,[57][58][59] . Second, genetic parentage analysis allowed us to confirm the maternity of the majority of pups, allowing us to jointly analyse individual and maternal inbreeding effects for all three traits.…”

Section: Study Design and Comparison To Previous Studies Our Study Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As body mass at weaning is an important predictor of juvenile survival in pinnipeds 45,50,[57][58][59] , we hypothesised that the higher recruitment success of outbred individuals might be explained by increased growth rates during early life. We therefore used two approaches to quantify pup growth.…”

Section: Pup Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little evidence for inbreeding depression for birth mass, survival and growth in Antarctic fur seal pups

Paijmans,

Berthelsen,

Nagel

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Inbreeding depression, the loss of offspring fitness due to consanguineous mating, is generally detrimental for individual performance and population viability. We therefore investigated inbreeding effects in a declining population of Antarctic fur seals at Bird Island, South Georgia. Here, localised warming has reduced the availability of the seal's staple diet, Antarctic krill, leading to a temporal increase in the strength of viability selection against inbred offspring, which are increasingly failing to recruit into the adult breeding population. However, it remains unclear whether viability selection operates before or after nutritional independence at weaning. We therefore used microsatellite data from 884 pups and their mothers, and SNP array data from 100 mother-offspring pairs, to quantify the effects of individual and maternal inbreeding on three important neonatal fitness traits: birth mass, survival and growth. We did not find any clear or consistent effects of inbreeding on any of these traits. This suggests that viability selection filters inbred individuals out of the population as juveniles during the time window between weaning and recruitment. Our study brings into focus a poorly understood life-history stage and emphasises the importance of understanding the ecology and threats facing juvenile pinnipeds.

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Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal

Hoffman,

Vendrami,

Hench

et al. 2024

Nat Ecol Evol

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Understanding the genetic and fitness consequences of anthropogenic bottlenecks is crucial for biodiversity conservation. However, studies of bottlenecked populations combining genomic approaches with fitness data are rare. Theory predicts that severe bottlenecks deplete genetic diversity, exacerbate inbreeding depression and decrease population viability. However, actual outcomes are complex and depend on how a species’ unique demography affects its genetic load. We used population genetic and veterinary pathology data, demographic modelling, whole-genome resequencing and forward genetic simulations to investigate the genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal. We found no evidence of inbreeding depression within the contemporary population for key fitness components, including body mass, blubber thickness and susceptibility to parasites and disease. However, we detected a genomic signature of a recent extreme bottleneck (effective population size = 6; 95% confidence interval = 5.0–7.5) that will have purged much of the genetic load, potentially leading to the lack of observed inbreeding depression in our study. Our results further suggest that deleterious genetic variation strongly impacted the post-bottleneck population dynamics of the northern elephant seal. Our study provides comprehensive empirical insights into the intricate dynamics underlying species-specific responses to anthropogenic bottlenecks.

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Large offspring have enhanced lifetime reproductive success: Long‐term carry‐over effects of weaning size in gray seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Cited by 4 publications

References 95 publications

Little evidence of inbreeding depression for birth mass, survival and growth in Antarctic fur seal pups

Little evidence of inbreeding depression for birth mass, survival and growth in Antarctic fur seal pups

Little evidence for inbreeding depression for birth mass, survival and growth in Antarctic fur seal pups

Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal

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