Plasticity and repeatability in spring migration and parturition dates with implications for annual reproductive success

Abstract

In seasonal environments, animals should be adapted to match important life‐history traits to when environmental conditions are optimal. Most animal populations therefore reproduce when resource abundance is highest to increase annual reproductive success. When facing variable, and changing, environments animals can display behavioural plasticity to acclimate to changing conditions. Behaviours can further be repeatable. For example, timing of behaviours and life history traits such as timing of reproduction may indicate phenotypic variation. Such variation may buffer animal populations against the consequences of variation and change. Our goal was to quantify plasticity and repeatability in migration and parturition timing in response to timing of snowmelt and green‐up in a migratory herbivore (caribou, Rangifer tarandus, n = 132 ID‐years) and their effect on reproductive success. We used behavioural reaction norms to quantify repeatability in timing of migration and timing of parturition in caribou and their plasticity to timing of spring events, while also quantifying phenotypic covariance between behavioural and life‐history traits. Timing of migration for individual caribou was positively correlated with timing of snowmelt. The timing of parturition for individual caribou varied as a function of inter‐annual variation in timing of snowmelt and green‐up. Repeatability for migration timing was moderate, but low for timing of parturition. Plasticity did not affect reproductive success. We also did not detect any evidence of phenotypic covariance among any traits examined—timing of migration was not correlated with timing of parturition, and neither was there a correlation in the plasticity of these traits. Repeatability in migration timing suggests the possibility that the timing of migration in migratory herbivores could evolve if the repeatability detected in this study has a genetic or otherwise heritable basis, but observed plasticity may obviate the need for an evolutionary response. Our results also suggest that observed shifts in caribou parturition timing are due to plasticity as opposed to an evolutionary response to changing conditions. While this provides some evidence that populations may be buffered from the consequences of climate change via plasticity, a lack of repeatability in parturition timing could impede adaptation as warming increases.