Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli dalli Nelson, 1884) sexual segregation : interactions between two hypotheses ...

• Main Author: Corti, Paulo
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Kluane National Park; Yukon
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0089797; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0089797

Four hypotheses have been proposed to explain sexual segregation in sexually dimorphic ungulates. I tested two of these on a Dall's sheep (CV/'s dalli dalli) population in Kluane National Park in Yukon, Canada. In the first, the reproductive-strategy hypothesis, males are predicted to feed in the best foraging areas to enhance their condition for intrasexual competition. Females are predicted to use areas with lower predation risk to raise offspring. In the second, the sexual dimorphism-body size hypothesis, females should use the best forage areas to satisfy the nutritional demands of gestation and lactation, and males due to their greater absolute metabolic requirements and larger body size have to forage on more available forages, but lower quality. I found Dall's sheep had a high social segregation but limited habitat segregation between males and females. Males were further from security cover in more gentle terrain than were maternal groups that used cliff or talus slopes. Maternal groups were located ...