Reproductive success delays moult phenology in a polar mammal.
Sci Rep
; 9(1): 5221, 2019 03 26.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30914781
ABSTRACT
Animals can respond to dynamic environments through phenological plasticity of life history events; however, changes in one part of the annual cycle can diminish the success of subsequent life history events. Our aims were to determine the associations between reproduction and moult phenology across years and to quantify phenological plasticity across varying environmental conditions. We conducted demographic surveys of 4,252 flipper-tagged Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica during four austral summers. At each sighting, seals were assigned a moult code based on the visible presence of new fur and the start date of each animal's moult was back-calculated. Reproductive success and parturition dates were obtained for the breeding season prior to and following the moult. We found that successful reproduction delayed moult by 16 days relative to non-parturient females. Phenology of the intervening moult was indicative of previous reproductive dynamics but not predictive of subsequent reproductive outcomes. Across years, moult phenology varied by about two weeks and covaried strongly with sea ice break-out timing for all reproductive categories. Our findings suggest these polar mammals have some flexibility within the annual cycle that allows adjustment of moult phenology to fluctuating environmental conditions without compromising future reproductive success.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Reprodução
/
Mudança Climática
/
Focas Verdadeiras
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article