Age at first reproduction in wolves: different patterns of density dependence for females and males ...

• Main Authors: Wikenros, Camilla, Gicquel, Morgane, Zimmermann, Barbara, Flagstad, Øystein, Åkesson, Mikael
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2021
• Subjects: Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3n5tb2rgg; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.3n5tb2rgg

Age at first reproduction constitutes a key life history trait in animals and is evolutionary shaped by fitness benefits and costs of delayed versus early reproduction. The understanding of how intrinsic and extrinsic changes affects age at first reproduction is crucial for conservation and management of threatened species because of its demographic effects on population growth and generation time. For a period of 40 years in the Scandinavian wolf (Canis lupus) population, including the recolonization phase, we estimated age at first successful reproduction (pup survival to at least three weeks of age) and examined how the variation among individuals was explained by sex, population size (from 1 to 74 packs), primiparous or multiparous origin, reproductive experience of the partner, and inbreeding. Median age at first reproduction was 3 years for females (n = 60) and 2 years for males (n = 74), and ranged between 1 and 8-10 years of age (n = 297). Female age at first reproduction decreased with increasing ...