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Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes
Knowledge on reproductive success is vital for successful management of large ungulates and is often measured by means of observing surviving offspring. In harvested ungulates, postmortem investigations of reproductive organs are used to estimate reproductive potential by obtaining ovulation rates a...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
2013
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058054/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24954927 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0173-6 |
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author | Malmsten, Jonas Dalin, Anne-Marie |
author_facet | Malmsten, Jonas Dalin, Anne-Marie |
author_sort | Malmsten, Jonas |
collection | PubMed |
description | Knowledge on reproductive success is vital for successful management of large ungulates and is often measured by means of observing surviving offspring. In harvested ungulates, postmortem investigations of reproductive organs are used to estimate reproductive potential by obtaining ovulation rates and fetus numbers. However, there are differences in numbers of offspring observed, fetal/embryo counts, and ovulation rates. We hypothesize that the discrepancy between estimated reproductive potential and reproductive outcome in large ungulates is not only due to ova loss but also due to embryonic mortality. We investigated reproductive status in early pregnancy by sampling hunter-harvested moose (Alces alces) in southern Sweden from 2007 to 2011. In all, 213 reproductive organs were examined postmortem, and in confirmed pregnant moose (n = 53), 25 % (19 of 76) embryos were nonviable and 6 % of ova was unfertilized. The discrepancy between the ovulation rate of all pregnant moose (1.49) and the number of expected offspring per pregnant female, when embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes were accounted for (1.08), was 27.5 %. An association between inflammation of the inner mucous membrane (endometritis) of the moose's uterus and embryonic mortality was observed. This is the first comprehensive report of embryonic mortality and endometritis in moose. The observed discrepancy between ovulation rates and early embryonic development/survival shows that ovulation rates are indicative but not accurate estimates of moose reproductive rate. The use of ovulation rates as a sole estimator of future offspring rates may lead to an overharvest of a managed moose population. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4058054 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | Springer Berlin Heidelberg |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-40580542014-06-18 Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes Malmsten, Jonas Dalin, Anne-Marie Acta Theriol (Warsz) Original Paper Knowledge on reproductive success is vital for successful management of large ungulates and is often measured by means of observing surviving offspring. In harvested ungulates, postmortem investigations of reproductive organs are used to estimate reproductive potential by obtaining ovulation rates and fetus numbers. However, there are differences in numbers of offspring observed, fetal/embryo counts, and ovulation rates. We hypothesize that the discrepancy between estimated reproductive potential and reproductive outcome in large ungulates is not only due to ova loss but also due to embryonic mortality. We investigated reproductive status in early pregnancy by sampling hunter-harvested moose (Alces alces) in southern Sweden from 2007 to 2011. In all, 213 reproductive organs were examined postmortem, and in confirmed pregnant moose (n = 53), 25 % (19 of 76) embryos were nonviable and 6 % of ova was unfertilized. The discrepancy between the ovulation rate of all pregnant moose (1.49) and the number of expected offspring per pregnant female, when embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes were accounted for (1.08), was 27.5 %. An association between inflammation of the inner mucous membrane (endometritis) of the moose's uterus and embryonic mortality was observed. This is the first comprehensive report of embryonic mortality and endometritis in moose. The observed discrepancy between ovulation rates and early embryonic development/survival shows that ovulation rates are indicative but not accurate estimates of moose reproductive rate. The use of ovulation rates as a sole estimator of future offspring rates may lead to an overharvest of a managed moose population. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2013-12-15 2014 /pmc/articles/PMC4058054/ /pubmed/24954927 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0173-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2013 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Original Paper Malmsten, Jonas Dalin, Anne-Marie Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
title | Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
title_full | Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
title_fullStr | Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
title_full_unstemmed | Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
title_short | Reproductive failure in moose (Alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
title_sort | reproductive failure in moose (alces alces) due to embryonic mortality and unfertilized oocytes |
topic | Original Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058054/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24954927 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0173-6 |
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