The effects of litter size on the bioenergetics and water requirements of lactating Mus musculus

Smith, Bruce W.; McManus, John J.

doi:10.1016/0300-9629(75)90422-3

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…data). All breeding mice have greatly increased demands for energy, protein and water, and when these resources are available ad libitum (as in laboratory conditions) they can allocate them directly to increasing litter size (Smith & McManus 1975;Studier 1979); but mice in field populations are usually fully exploiting the available resources, so must accommodate the additional demands of reproduction primarily by reallocation of resources from other functions . Therefore, it might be hypothesised that nutritional differences, shown in this study to dramatically affect juvenile growth rates, would also influence the number of females able to breed, their litter sizes and their ability to nurse young, and hence weaning success and body mass of weanlings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does high growth rate of juvenile house mice with prolonged access to ripening grain and free water drive population outbreaks?

Mutze¹

2007

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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Post-weaning growth rates were measured for juvenile house mice (Mus domesticus) reared under four experimental treatments representing dietary conditions in cereal-growing areas of southeastern Australia. The mice were bred in captivity from adult wild mice captured in mature dry cereal crops during summer. Juvenile mice were caged in pairs at 23°C and offered a diet of either ripening wheat heads or mature dry wheat heads, with or without access to free water. All diets were adequate for survival, but juvenile mice on a diet of ripening wheat with water available grew at 0.25 g day -1 , 260% faster than those on a diet of mature wheat and deprived access to free water. Mice on a diet of ripening wheat but deprived of free water and those on a diet of mature wheat with water available grew at intermediate rates. Post-weaning growth rates of mice in all treatment groups were higher when the young were weaned at higher body mass. The results have implications for estimates of growth, timing of sexual maturity and reproduction of mice in field populations, and indicate that prolonged access to ripening grain and/or relief from moisture stress are likely to be critical to rapid population increase during population outbreaks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does high growth rate of juvenile house mice with prolonged access to ripening grain and free water drive population outbreaks?

Mutze¹

2007

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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“…Graham, 1964;Kaczmarski, 1966;Migula, 1969;Stebbins, 1977;Randolph et al 1977;Millar, 1978;Mattingly and McClure, 1982;Sadleir, 1982;Glazier, 1985«, b). These levels may vary directly with litter size {e.g., Smith and McManus, 1975;Millar, 1978;Sadleir, 1982) and may be over 200% in digestively inefficient species {e.g., the folivorous "carnivore," the red panda, Ailurus fulgens: Gittleman, 1988è; see also Studier, 1979). Peak levels of energy use may approach 2.5-5 times those of non-reproductive females (see ref-erences above).…”

Section: Lactationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peak levels of energy use may approach 2.5-5 times those of non-reproductive females (see ref-erences above). However, despite high energy expenditures during lactation, net production ranges from about 15-45% (see Smith and McManus, 1975;Mattingly and McClure, 1982;Glazier, 1985è;Oftedal, 1985) which is similar to, or even slightly higher than, gestation.…”

Section: Lactationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies usually fall into one of two broadly defined categories: those concerned primarily with evolutionary (=fitness) consequences (e.g., Ortiz et ai, 1984) or those interested in the energetic (=physiological) costs associated with varying reproductive patterns {e.g., Smith and McManus, 1975;Glazier, 1985è;Mattingly and McClure, 1985). Evolutionary biologists and behavioral ecologists have been primarily concerned with parental investment, defined as costs to an individual's future reproductive success result-' From the Symposium on Energetics and Animal Behavior presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Zoologists, 27-30 December 1986, at Nashville, Tennessee. ing from a current reproductive event (Trivers, 1972).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Energy Allocation in Mammalian Reproduction

Gittleman

Thompson

1988

Am Zool

732

523

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SYNOPSIS. On behavioral, hormonal, and physiological grounds, mammalian reproduction can be compartmentalized into the following continuous sequence of events: mating (courtship, estrous), gestation, parturition, lactation, post-lactational parental care, and maternal recovery. We point out that comparing the relative allocation of energy for these events across mammals is difficult because of life history variability (e.g., litter size, birth weight), allometry, phylogeny, and individual variation. We review the empirical and theoretical literature on each of these events with respect to: different methodologies in measuring energy use; broad patterns of energy consumption across diverse mammalian taxa; and, identification of particular reproductive characteristics {e.g., birthing, parental care) which may be costly but have yet to receive energetic measurements. Although most studies have considered gestation and lactation the critical reproductive events for energy expenditure, variation in these events is substantial and almost certainly is a function of relative allocation of time to gestation vs. lactation as well as the presumed energetic costs of mating, birthing and parental care. In addition, repeated observations show that behavioral compensation is an extremely important strategy for minimizing energy requirements during reproduction. From this review, we argue that more complete analyses will come from (1) incorporating energetic measurements in studies of mammalian behavior and (2) including mechanisms of behavioral compensation into physiological studies.

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“…In other species, as mentioned above, such changes have been explained in terms of variation in birth weight, litter size, maternal metabolic capacity or combinations of these factors (e.g. SMITH & MCMANUS 1975;MILLAR 1978;MATTINGLEY & MCCLURE 1982;SADLEIR 1982). A further factor which may explain the degree of food increase during lactation across species is digestive efficiency.…”

Section: Comparative Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Energetics of Lactation in a Herbivorous Carnivore, the Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

Gittleman

1988

Ethology

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In most mammals, the energetic costs of lactation significantly increase a female's daily energy requirements. Previous research indicates that such energetic costs may be met through changes in increased food consumption ranging from around 35 % to 150 %. In this paper, changes in food intake during lactation are measured in the red panda {Ailurus fulgens), a species of the order Carnívora which possesses a digestive system suited for a carnivorous diet but yet exclusively feeds on bamboo.Four feeding characteristics were studied: duration of feeding bouts, number of bamboo leaves consumed per mouthful, number of bamboo leaves consumed per minute, and interval between mouthfuls of bamboo. In three lactating females, three of four feeding behaviors significantly increased up to 200 % above the rate observed during non-lactation. Males showed no change in feeding behavior during the same reproductive months with identical available foods. Red pandas appear to suffer a more severe energetic cost during lactation (at least with respect to food consumption) than other mammals previously studied. This may relate to their inefficient digestive capacity to process a herbivorous diet of bamboo. The data presented here suggest that general discussions of the relative costs of reproduction and in turn parental investment should include a female's relative digestive efficiency during stressful reproductive periods.

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The effects of litter size on the bioenergetics and water requirements of lactating Mus musculus

Cited by 30 publications

References 15 publications

Does high growth rate of juvenile house mice with prolonged access to ripening grain and free water drive population outbreaks?

Does high growth rate of juvenile house mice with prolonged access to ripening grain and free water drive population outbreaks?

Energy Allocation in Mammalian Reproduction

Behavioral Energetics of Lactation in a Herbivorous Carnivore, the Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

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