Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut.
During the rut, female ungulates move among harems or territories, either to sample mates or to avoid harassment. Females may be herded by a male, may stay with a preferred male, or aggregate near a dominant male to avoid harassment from other males. In fission-fusion group dynamics, female movement...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2c77d3e664bf49ce9254c1e174e7ee70 2023-05-15T18:04:20+02:00 Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. Guillaume Body Robert B Weladji Øystein Holand Mauri Nieminen 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095618 https://doaj.org/article/2c77d3e664bf49ce9254c1e174e7ee70 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3997419?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095618 https://doaj.org/article/2c77d3e664bf49ce9254c1e174e7ee70 PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e95618 (2014) Medicine R Science Q article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095618 2022-12-31T16:03:11Z During the rut, female ungulates move among harems or territories, either to sample mates or to avoid harassment. Females may be herded by a male, may stay with a preferred male, or aggregate near a dominant male to avoid harassment from other males. In fission-fusion group dynamics, female movement is best described by the group's fission probability, instead of inter-harem movement. In this study, we tested whether male herding ability, female mate choice or harassment avoidance influence fission probability. We recorded group dynamics in a herd of reindeer Rangifer tarandus equipped with GPS collars with activity sensors. We found no evidence that the harassment level in the group affected fission probability, or that females sought high rank (i.e. highly competitive and hence successful) males. However, the behavior of high ranked males decreased fission probability. Male herding activity was synchronous with the decrease of fission probability observed during the rut. We concluded that male herding behavior stabilized groups, thereby increasing average group size and consequently the opportunity for sexual selection. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer tarandus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 9 4 e95618 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Guillaume Body Robert B Weladji Øystein Holand Mauri Nieminen Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
During the rut, female ungulates move among harems or territories, either to sample mates or to avoid harassment. Females may be herded by a male, may stay with a preferred male, or aggregate near a dominant male to avoid harassment from other males. In fission-fusion group dynamics, female movement is best described by the group's fission probability, instead of inter-harem movement. In this study, we tested whether male herding ability, female mate choice or harassment avoidance influence fission probability. We recorded group dynamics in a herd of reindeer Rangifer tarandus equipped with GPS collars with activity sensors. We found no evidence that the harassment level in the group affected fission probability, or that females sought high rank (i.e. highly competitive and hence successful) males. However, the behavior of high ranked males decreased fission probability. Male herding activity was synchronous with the decrease of fission probability observed during the rut. We concluded that male herding behavior stabilized groups, thereby increasing average group size and consequently the opportunity for sexual selection. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Guillaume Body Robert B Weladji Øystein Holand Mauri Nieminen |
author_facet |
Guillaume Body Robert B Weladji Øystein Holand Mauri Nieminen |
author_sort |
Guillaume Body |
title |
Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
title_short |
Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
title_full |
Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
title_fullStr |
Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
title_sort |
highly competitive reindeer males control female behavior during the rut. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095618 https://doaj.org/article/2c77d3e664bf49ce9254c1e174e7ee70 |
genre |
Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e95618 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3997419?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095618 https://doaj.org/article/2c77d3e664bf49ce9254c1e174e7ee70 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095618 |
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PLoS ONE |
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9 |
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4 |
container_start_page |
e95618 |
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1766175683448406016 |