Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations
In most polygynous vertebrates, males must allocate energy to growing secondary sexual characteristics, such as ornaments or weapons, that they require to attract and defend potential mates, impacting body condition and potentially entailing fitness costs. We investigated sex differences in over win...
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2024-10-01
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| author | Hewison, A.J. Mark Bonnot, Nadège C. Gaillard, Jean-Michel Kjellander, Petter Lemaitre, Jean-François Morellet, Nicolas Pellerin, Maryline |
| author_facet | Hewison, A.J. Mark Bonnot, Nadège C. Gaillard, Jean-Michel Kjellander, Petter Lemaitre, Jean-François Morellet, Nicolas Pellerin, Maryline |
| author_sort | Hewison, A.J. Mark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In most polygynous vertebrates, males must allocate energy to growing secondary sexual characteristics, such as ornaments or weapons, that they require to attract and defend potential mates, impacting body condition and potentially entailing fitness costs. We investigated sex differences in over winter body mass change across five intensively monitored populations of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) with markedly contrasting environmental conditions. At winter onset, males weighed, on average, 8.4% (from 4.7% in the most northerly population to 11.6% in the most southerly one) more than females. However, across all populations, males fared worse over the winter than females, losing more (Sweden) or gaining less (France) mass, so that sexual mass dimorphism was virtually absent prior to the onset of spring. Our findings reveal that the direction of over-winter change in mass of roe deer depends on winter severity, but that males are consistently more sensitive to this environmental constraint than females. As a result of this sex-specific change in body mass, sexual mass dimorphism is lowest at the onset of the territorial season. We suggest that allocation to antler growth and territory establishment drives this pattern, providing a likely explanation to account for the lower rates of male adult survival that are consistently reported in this weakly dimorphic species. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-859a4a2a18a94dcbac9c32ab2418004f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2804-3871 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Peer Community In |
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| spelling | doaj-art-859a4a2a18a94dcbac9c32ab2418004f2025-02-07T10:17:17ZengPeer Community InPeer Community Journal2804-38712024-10-01410.24072/pcjournal.47910.24072/pcjournal.479Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations Hewison, A.J. Mark0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2276-4154Bonnot, Nadège C.1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8717-231XGaillard, Jean-Michel2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0174-8451Kjellander, Petter3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4272-6737Lemaitre, Jean-François4Morellet, Nicolas5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4274-7044Pellerin, Maryline6Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France; LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, 31320 Auzeville Tolosane, FranceUniversité de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France; LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, 31320 Auzeville Tolosane, FranceUniversité Lyon 1, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR5558, 69622 Villeurbanne, FranceGrimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Riddarhyttan, SwedenUniversité Lyon 1, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR5558, 69622 Villeurbanne, FranceUniversité de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France; LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, 31320 Auzeville Tolosane, FranceDirection de la Recherche et de l’Appui Scientifique, Office Français de la Biodiversité, Unité Ongulés Sauvages, 38610 Gières, FranceIn most polygynous vertebrates, males must allocate energy to growing secondary sexual characteristics, such as ornaments or weapons, that they require to attract and defend potential mates, impacting body condition and potentially entailing fitness costs. We investigated sex differences in over winter body mass change across five intensively monitored populations of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) with markedly contrasting environmental conditions. At winter onset, males weighed, on average, 8.4% (from 4.7% in the most northerly population to 11.6% in the most southerly one) more than females. However, across all populations, males fared worse over the winter than females, losing more (Sweden) or gaining less (France) mass, so that sexual mass dimorphism was virtually absent prior to the onset of spring. Our findings reveal that the direction of over-winter change in mass of roe deer depends on winter severity, but that males are consistently more sensitive to this environmental constraint than females. As a result of this sex-specific change in body mass, sexual mass dimorphism is lowest at the onset of the territorial season. We suggest that allocation to antler growth and territory establishment drives this pattern, providing a likely explanation to account for the lower rates of male adult survival that are consistently reported in this weakly dimorphic species.https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.479/sexual size dimorphism, costs of reproduction, income breeder, winter severity, ungulate |
| spellingShingle | Hewison, A.J. Mark Bonnot, Nadège C. Gaillard, Jean-Michel Kjellander, Petter Lemaitre, Jean-François Morellet, Nicolas Pellerin, Maryline Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations Peer Community Journal sexual size dimorphism, costs of reproduction, income breeder, winter severity, ungulate |
| title | Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations
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| title_full | Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations
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| title_fullStr | Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations
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| title_full_unstemmed | Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations
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| title_short | Body mass change over winter is consistently sex-specific across roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) populations
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| title_sort | body mass change over winter is consistently sex specific across roe deer capreolus capreolus populations |
| topic | sexual size dimorphism, costs of reproduction, income breeder, winter severity, ungulate |
| url | https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.479/ |
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