Lasting effects of conditions at birth on moose body mass

Solberg, Erling Johan; Loison, Anne; Gaillard, Jean‐Michel; Heim, Morten

doi:10.1111/j.0906-7590.2004.03864.x

Cited by 83 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…This is particularly true in face of the predicted climatic changes (IPCC 2001(IPCC , 2007. Variation in moose life history traits is closely linked to environmental variation (Saether et al 1996;Solberg et al 2004;Herfindal et al 2006a), and such traits are thus likely to respond to changes in the environment. However, populations differ in their response to environmental variation (Herfindal et al 2006b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic discontinuities in a continuously distributed and highly mobile ungulate, the Norwegian moose

et al. 2011

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Many species with currently continuously distributed populations have histories of geographic range shifts and successive shifts between decline or fragmentation, growth and spatial expansion. The moose (Alces alces) colonised Scandinavia after the last ice age. Historic records document a high abundance and a wide distribution across Norway in the middle ages, but major decline and fragmentation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After growth and expansion during the twentieth century, the Norwegian population is currently abundant and continuously distributed. We examined the distribution of genetic variation, differentiation and admixture in Norwegian moose, using 15 microsatellites. We assessed whether admixture has homogenised the population or if there are any genetic structures or discontinuities that can be related to recent or ancient shifts in demography or distribution. The Bayesian clustering algorithm STRUCTURE without any spatial information showed that there is currently a genetic dichotomy dividing the population into one southern and one northern subpopulation. Including spatial information, the Bayesian clustering algorithm TESS, which considers gradients of genetic variation and spatial autocorrelation, suggests that the population is divided into three subpopulations along a latitudinal axis, the southern one identical to the one identified with STRUCTURE. Present convergence zones of high admixture separate the identified subpopulations, which are delimited by genetic discontinuities corresponding to geographic barriers against dispersal, e.g. wide fiords and mountain ranges. The distribution of the subpopulations is supported by spatial autocorrelation analysis. However, some loci are not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the STRUCTURE analysis suggests that a lower hierarchical structure may exist within the southernmost subpopulation. No bottlenecks or founder events are indicated by the levels of genetic variation, rather a high degree of private alleles in the northern subpopulations indicates introgression. Coalescent-based Approximate Bayesian Computation estimates unambiguously suggest that the genetic structure is a result of an ancient divergence event and a more recent admixture event a few centuries ago. This indicates that the central Scandinavian subpopulation constitutes a relatively recent convergence zone of secondary contact.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic discontinuities in a continuously distributed and highly mobile ungulate, the Norwegian moose

et al. 2011

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“…Increased competition for food due to increased density can considerably affect body mass further modulating reproduction and neonatal survival (Forchhammer et al 2001, Pettorelli et al 2007, Bå rdsen et al 2011. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the negative effects of harsh climatic conditions are exacerbated by population density (Coulson et al 2001, Bonenfant et al 2009) and that poor early life development conditions can have long-term consequences on a cohort's life history (Lindströ m 1999, Lummaa and Clutton-Brock 2002, Solberg et al 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined effects of long‐term feeding, population density and vegetation green‐up on reindeer demography

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Large herbivores living in seasonal environments are generally food-limited through density dependence and climatic factors. This may result in starvation and increased mortality in winter and reduced fecundity the following summer. Variability in winter conditions has the potential to create persistent fitness differences at the cohort-and the individual-level in iteroparous species. Using a 9-year dataset from two herds of individually marked free-ranging reindeer we assessed whether population growth rates, somatic allocation (female body mass) and reproductive allocation (reproductive success and calf body mass) were affected by supplementary feeding, population density and the timing of the onset of spring (i.e., vegetation onset). The supplementary fed population had a higher population growth rate, the females were more likely to reproduce and their calves were heavier than in the control population. Female body mass was negatively related to timing of vegetation green-up in both herds. Since both populations increased in the last decade we found support to our prediction that density-dependence negatively affected our study herds. Indeed, density negatively affected growth rates, female body mass, reproductive success and calf body mass in both populations and, as expected, this effect was more marked in the control herd. We suggest that food supplemented females may, at least partially, be able to compensate for the energetic costs of negative density-dependence following late vegetation green-up while control females may not. Our findings reveal that late winter conditions have an important limiting role in the study area and that density-dependent food limitation in late winter/early summer acts as a main factor affecting our reindeer population.

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“…Furthermore, Solberg et al (2008) found that calf body mass generally predicts adult body mass well in our population. However, male moose grow for a long period and do not reach their asymptotic body mass until old ages (Solberg and Saether, 1994;Solberg et al, 2004). In small and isolated populations under high harvest pressure, demographic stochasticity will be large and few males will reach the size at which they might compete successfully for females (Langvatn and Loison, 1999;Solberg et al, 2000;Stewart et al, 2000;Engen et al, 2014b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reversal of response to artificial selection on body size in a wild passerine

et al. 2017

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Preface -If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.Sir Isaac Newton (1676) I am thankful for the opportunity to become deeply immersed in the fascinating world of biology, it has been challenging, rewarding and periodically exhausting. The work of this thesis build on the effort of several people in study systems spanning two decades. They deserve many thanks for the dedication and careful collection of high quality data. I would also like to thank all the local people at the islands along the coast of Helgeland for the hospitality and friendliness experienced during all my fieldwork, it has been unprecedented.During the days in the office, out in the field and in the lab, I have been lucky to be surrounded by a lot of great colleagues and friends. Thanks for the most welcomed distractions and good laughs, and thanks for the helpful, interesting and inspiring talks and discussions. Special thanks go to all my good colleagues in both the house sparrow and moose project. I have enjoyed working with you all.At last I want to thank my friends, parents and family, your presence and support means a lot to me. Most of all I want to thank my dearest Eva Sofie for being loving, caring and supportive, and our two sons, William and Sebastian, for bringing so much joy into our lives. You three are most important of all.

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Lasting effects of conditions at birth on moose body mass

Cited by 83 publications

References 57 publications

Genetic discontinuities in a continuously distributed and highly mobile ungulate, the Norwegian moose

Genetic discontinuities in a continuously distributed and highly mobile ungulate, the Norwegian moose

Combined effects of long‐term feeding, population density and vegetation green‐up on reindeer demography

Reversal of response to artificial selection on body size in a wild passerine

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