Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Male mating effort in a polygynous ungulate

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 08 August 2006

An Erratum to this article was published on 08 August 2006

Abstract

Survival and mating success are key fitness components of mammalian males. Because energy is limited, life history theory predicts trade-offs between current and future reproduction. While many studies have examined fitness trade-off in females, we know little about trade-offs faced by males. In polygynous species, male mating success is largely dependent upon intrasexual competition. Consequently, males have greater uncertainty over the benefits of a given allocation than over its costs, and the correlation between mating effort and success is likely much weaker in males than in females. We analyzed 14 years of data on the mating effort and survival of marked bighorn rams to investigate fitness trade-offs. Dominant rams defended single estrous ewes (“tending”) while subordinates attempted to copulate after separating the tending pair (“coursing”). We estimated the participation in tending and coursing for each ram and the effort in searching for breeding opportunities by each ram each year. We compared these three behavioral indices of male mating effort to demographic parameters, individual characteristics, and both yearly and long-term survival. Mating effort during the rut was unrelated to ram overwinter survival, but longevity was positively correlated with mating effort between 2 and 5 years of age. Persistent variation among rams is likely to explain this pattern, suggesting that in natural populations a few high quality males enjoy both high mating success and high survival.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson M (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Bérubé CH, Festa-Bianchet M, Jorgenson JT (1999) Individual differences, longevity, and reproductive senescence in bighorn ewes. Ecology 80:2555–2565

    Google Scholar 

  • Cam E, Link WA, Cooch EG, Monnat J-Y, Danchin E (2002) Individual covariation in life-history traits: seeing the trees despite the forest. Am Nat 159:96–105

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clinton WL, Boeuf BJL (1993) Sexual selection’s effects on male life history and the pattern of male mortality. Ecology 74:1884–1892

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Guinness FE, Albon SD (1982) Red deer: behavior and ecology of two sexes. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Rose KE, Guinness FE (1997) Density-related changes in sexual selection in red deer. Proc R Soc Lond B 264:1509–1516

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coltman DW, Festa-Bianchet M, Jorgenson JT, Strobeck C (2002) Age-dependent sexual selection in bighorn rams. Proc R Soc Lond B 269:165–172

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coltman DW, O’Donoghue P, Hogg JT, Festa-Bianchet M (2005) Selection and genetic (co)variance in bighorn sheep. Evolution 59:1372–1382

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries H (1995) An improved test of linearity in dominance hierarchies containing unknown or tied relationships. Anim Behav 50:1375–1389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries H (1998) Finding a dominance order most consistent with a linear hierarchy: a new procedure and review. Anim Behav 55:827–843

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries H, Netto WJ, Hanegraaf PLH (1993) Matman: a program for the analysis of sociometric matrices and behavioural transition matrices. Behaviour 125:157–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobson FS, Risch TS, Murie JO (1999) Increasing returns in the life history of Columbian ground squirrels. J Anim Ecol 68:73–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M (1986a) Seasonal dispersion of overlapping mountain sheep ewe groups. J Wildl Manage 50:325–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M (1986b) Site fidelity and seasonal range use by bighorn rams. Can J Zool 64:2126–2132

    Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M (1989) Survival of male bighorn sheep in southwestern Alberta. J Wildl Manage 53:259–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M (1998) Condition-dependent reproductive success in bighorn ewes. Ecol Lett 1:91–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M, Jorgenson JT, King WJ, Smith KG, Wishart WD (1996) The development of sexual dimorphism: seasonal and lifetime mass changes in bighorn sheep. Can J Zool 74:330–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M, Gaillard J-M, Jorgenson JT (1998) Mass- and density-dependent reproductive success and reproductive costs in a capital breeder. Am Nat 152:367–379

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M, Jorgenson JT, Réale D (2000) Early development, adult mass, and reproductive success in bighorn sheep. Behav Ecol 11:633–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth DM, Duncan RP, Tustin KG, Gaillard JM (2005) A substantial energetic cost to male reproduction in a sexually dimorphic ungulate. Ecology 86:2154–2163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaillard J-M, Festa-Bianchet M, Yoccoz NG, Loison A, Toïgo C (2000) Temporal variation in fitness components and population dynamics of large herbivores. Ann Rev Ecolog Syst 31:367–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist V (1967) On fighting injuries and dermal shields of mountain goats. J Wildl Manage 31:192–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosling LM, Petrie M, Rainy ME (1987) Lekking in topi: a high cost, specialist strategy. Anim Behav 35:616–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg JT (1984) Mating in bighorn sheep: multiple creative male strategies. Science 225:526–529

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg JT (1987) Intrasexual competition and mate choice in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Ethology 75:119–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg JT (1988) Copulatory tactics in relation to sperm competition in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 22:49–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg JT (2000) Mating systems and conservation at large spatial scales. In: Apollonio M, Festa-Bianchet M, Mainardi D (eds) Vertebrate mating systems. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 214–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogg JT, Forbes SH (1997) Mating in bighorn sheep: frequent male reproduction via a high-risk “unconventional” tactic. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 41:33–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooge PN, Eichenlaub B (1997) Animal movement extension to Arcview, ver. 1.1. Alaska Biological Science Center, US Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK, USA

  • Houle D (1991) Genetic covariance of fitness correlates: what genetic correlations are made of and why it matters. Evolution 45:630–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jewell PA (1997) Survival and behaviour of castrated Soay sheep (Ovis aries) in a feral island population on Hirta, St. Kilda, Scotland. J Zool 243:623–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jönsson KI (1997) Capital and income breeding as alternative tactics of resource use in reproduction. Oikos 78:57–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson JT, Samson J, Festa-Bianchet M (1990) Field immobilization of bighorn sheep with xylazine hydrochloride and antagonism with idazoxan. J Wildl Dis 26:522–527

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson JT, Festa-Bianchet M, Gaillard J-M, Wishart WD (1997) Effects of age, sex, disease, and density on survival of bighorn sheep. Ecology 78:1019–1032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loison A, Festa-Bianchet M, Gaillard J-M, Jorgenson JT, Jullien J-M (1999) Age-specific survival in five populations of ungulates: evidence of senescence. Ecology 80:2539–2554

    Google Scholar 

  • McElligott AG, Altwegg R, Hayden TJ (2002) Age-specific survival and reproductive probabilities: evidence for senescence in male fallow deer (Dama dama). Proc R Soc Lond B 269:1129–1137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McElligott AG, Naulty F, Clarke WV, Hayden TJ (2003) The somatic cost of reproduction: what determines reproductive effort in prime-aged fallow bucks? Evol Ecol Res 5:1239–1250

    Google Scholar 

  • Miquelle DG (1990) Why don’t bull moose eat during the rut? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 27:145–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mysterud A, Langvatn R, Stenseth NC (2004) Patterns of reproductive effort in male ungulates. J Zool Lond 264:209–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mysterud A, Solberg EJ, Yoccoz NG (2005) Ageing and reproductive effort in male moose under variable levels of intrasexual competition. J Anim Ecol 74:742–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen-Smith N (1993a) Age, size, dominance and reproduction among male kudus: mating enhancement by attrition of rivals. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 32:177–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen-Smith N (1993b) Comparative mortality rates of male and female kudus: the costs of sexual size dimorphism. J Anim Ecol 62:428–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge L, Farquhar M (1983) Lifetime mating success of male fruitflies (Drosophila melanogaster) is related to their size. Anim Behav 31:871–877

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F (2005) Foraging time of rutting bighorn rams varies with individual behavior, not mating tactic. Behav Ecol 16:280–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F, Festa-Bianchet M (2006) Sexual selection and social rank in bighorn rams. Anim Behav 71:649–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F, Hogg JT, Festa-Bianchet M (2004) Effect of chemical immobilization on social status of bighorn rams. Anim Behav 67:1163–1165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pianka ER, Parker WS (1975) Age-specific reproductive tactics. Am Nat 109:453–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Promislow DEL (1992) Costs of sexual selection in natural populations of mammals. Proc R Soc Lond B 247:203–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ralls K, Brownell RL Jr, Ballou J (1980) Differential mortality by sex and age in mammals, with specific reference to the sperm whale. Rep Int Whal Comm 2:233–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Reznick D, Nunney L, Tessier A (2000) Big houses, big cars, superfleas and the costs of reproduction. Trends Ecol Evol 15:421–425

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schemper M (1990) The explained variation in proportional hazards regression. Biometrika 77:216–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Service PM (2000) Heterogeneity in individual mortality risk and its importance for evolutionary studies of senescence. Am Nat 156:1–13

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry, 2nd edn. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns SC (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson IR, Bancroft DR (1995) Fluctuating trade-offs favour precocial maturity in male Soay sheep. Proc R Soc Lond B 262:267–275

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toïgo C, Gaillard JM (2003) Causes of sex-biased adult survival in ungulates: sexual size dimorphism, mating tactic or environment harshness? Oikos 101:376–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toïgo C, Gaillard JM, Michallet J (1999) Cohort affects growth of males but not females in alpine ibex (Capra ibex ibex). J Mammal 80:1021–1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuomi J, Hakala T, Haukioja E (1983) Alternative concepts of reproductive effort, costs of reproduction, and selection in life-history evolution. Am Zool 23:25–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Noordwijk AJ, De Jong G (1986) Acquisition and allocation of resources: their influence on variation in life history tactics. Am Nat 128:137–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams GC (1966) Natural selection, the costs of reproduction, and a refinement of Lack’s principle. Am Nat 100:687–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoccoz NG, Mysterud A, Langvatn R, Stenseth NC (2002) Age- and density-dependent reproductive effort in male red deer. Proc R Soc Lond B 269:1523–1528

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (scholarships to FP and Discovery grant to MFB), the Challenge Grants in Biodiversity program (Alberta Conservation Association, grant to FP), les Fonds de recherche sur la nature et technologies (Québec, scholarships to FP), the Eppley Foundation for Research and The Charles Engelhard Foundation (grants to JTH), and the Université de Sherbrooke. We thank all students, assistants, and volunteers who contributed to our research over the past 15 years. We are grateful to the Kananaskis Field Stations (University of Calgary) for logistic support. For critical comments on the manuscript, we thank Atle Mysterud, Norman Owen-Smith, Kathreen Ruckstuhl, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Giacomo Tavecchia, Dany Garant, and Tim Coulson. This research project was approved by the Animal Care Committee of the Université de Sherbrooke, an affiliate of the Canadian Council on Animal Care.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l’Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada

    Fanie Pelletier & Marco Festa-Bianchet

  2. Imperial College London, Division of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK

    Fanie Pelletier

  3. Montana Conservation Science Institute, Limited, 5200 Upper Miller Creek Road, Missoula, MT, 59803, USA

    John T. Hogg

Authors
  1. Fanie Pelletier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John T. Hogg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marco Festa-Bianchet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fanie Pelletier.

Additional information

Communicated by A. Schulte-Hostedde

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0243-8

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pelletier, F., Hogg, J.T. & Festa-Bianchet, M. Male mating effort in a polygynous ungulate. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60, 645–654 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0208-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0208-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation