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Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer

We analysed effects of females’ body mass and age on reproductive capacity of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a large sample set of 1312 females (305 yearlings and 1007 adults), hunted throughout Slovenia, central Europe, in the period 2013–2015. Body mass positively affected probability...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Flajšman, Katarina, Jerina, Klemen, Pokorny, Boštjan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5389817/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28403161
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175579
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author Flajšman, Katarina
Jerina, Klemen
Pokorny, Boštjan
author_facet Flajšman, Katarina
Jerina, Klemen
Pokorny, Boštjan
author_sort Flajšman, Katarina
collection PubMed
description We analysed effects of females’ body mass and age on reproductive capacity of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a large sample set of 1312 females (305 yearlings and 1007 adults), hunted throughout Slovenia, central Europe, in the period 2013–2015. Body mass positively affected probability of ovulation and potential litter size (number of corpora lutea), although its effect was more pronounced in yearlings than in adults. Between age groups, we found clear differences in responses of both reproductive parameters to body mass which influences primarily reproductive performance of younger, and in particular, lighter individuals: at the same body mass yearlings would at average have smaller litters than adults, and at lower body mass also young to middle-aged adults would have smaller litters than old ones. In addition, while yearlings have to reach a critical threshold body mass to attain reproductive maturity, adult females are fertile (produce ova) even at low body mass. However, at higher body mass also younger individuals shift their efforts into the reproduction, and after reaching an age-specific threshold the body mass does not have any further effects on the reproductive output of roe deer females. Increased reproductive capacity at more advanced age, combined with declining body mass suggests that old does allocate more of their resources in reproduction than in body condition.
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spelling pubmed-53898172017-05-03 Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer Flajšman, Katarina Jerina, Klemen Pokorny, Boštjan PLoS One Research Article We analysed effects of females’ body mass and age on reproductive capacity of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in a large sample set of 1312 females (305 yearlings and 1007 adults), hunted throughout Slovenia, central Europe, in the period 2013–2015. Body mass positively affected probability of ovulation and potential litter size (number of corpora lutea), although its effect was more pronounced in yearlings than in adults. Between age groups, we found clear differences in responses of both reproductive parameters to body mass which influences primarily reproductive performance of younger, and in particular, lighter individuals: at the same body mass yearlings would at average have smaller litters than adults, and at lower body mass also young to middle-aged adults would have smaller litters than old ones. In addition, while yearlings have to reach a critical threshold body mass to attain reproductive maturity, adult females are fertile (produce ova) even at low body mass. However, at higher body mass also younger individuals shift their efforts into the reproduction, and after reaching an age-specific threshold the body mass does not have any further effects on the reproductive output of roe deer females. Increased reproductive capacity at more advanced age, combined with declining body mass suggests that old does allocate more of their resources in reproduction than in body condition. Public Library of Science 2017-04-12 /pmc/articles/PMC5389817/ /pubmed/28403161 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175579 Text en © 2017 Flajšman et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Flajšman, Katarina
Jerina, Klemen
Pokorny, Boštjan
Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
title Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
title_full Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
title_fullStr Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
title_full_unstemmed Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
title_short Age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
title_sort age-related effects of body mass on fertility and litter size in roe deer
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5389817/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28403161
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175579
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