Reproductive Strategies of Adult Female Weddell Seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) and Their Implications for Pup Survival ...

• Main Author: Wheatley, KE
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Weddell; Weddell Seals
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23211662.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Reproductive_Strategies_of_Adult_Female_Weddell_Seals_Leptonychotes_weddellii_and_Their_Implications_for_Pup_Survival/23211662/1

Life history strategies reflect variation in the allocation of an individual's resources (i.e., time, effort and energy expenditure) to competing life functions such as growth, survival and reproduction. For mammals, producing milk is one of the most energetically expensive activities for females, so factors determining its delivery to offspring essentially define the reproductive strategy a species evolves. The efficiency with which energy is transferred via milk also determines the reproductive investment trade-off that exists between survival and future reproduction. The key objective of this study was to examine physiological aspects of lactation in Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), to gain a better understanding of reproductive strategies of an upper trophic level predator that must cope with unpredictable food availability in an extreme and highly variable environment. Female body mass (and absolute body fat) at parturition differed between the two years of study and this difference appeared to ...