Male turnover reduces population growth: an enclosure experiment on voles

Ecology
Harry P Andreassen, Gry Gundersen

Abstract

Turnover of individuals is assumed to cause disruptions of social organization, followed by reduced reproduction and survival. We tested how male turnover (removal of resident males and their replacement by unfamiliar males) affected population performance in experimental root vole (Microtus oeconomus) populations. The treatment simulated predation of adult males, with the subsequent replacement by immigrants, and provided insight into the interaction between extrinsic (i.e., predation) and intrinsic (i.e., social organization) factors. We showed that recruitment and female survival dramatically declined and that reproduction commenced slightly later in treatment populations compared with control populations. The treatment nearly halved the population growth rate. We suspect that recruitment failed due to infanticidal immigrating males. Reduced female survival was particularly apparent in treatment populations in which females exhibited a high degree of spatial overlap. Our experimental results show how males may significantly shape population dynamics and suggest how predation and social factors interact mechanistically.

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Citations

Oct 27, 2010·Oecologia·Katri KorpelaHannu Ylönen
Feb 15, 2007·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Jos M MilnerHarry P Andreassen
Sep 25, 2008·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Andrés López-SepulcreHanna Kokko
Jan 4, 2012·Molecular Ecology·Jean-François Le GalliardXavier Lambin
Jul 28, 2016·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Jacinthe GosselinFanie Pelletier
Jan 27, 2019·BMC Ecology·Kaja JohnsenHarry P Andreassen

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