Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe
Abstract The ecology and evolution of reproductive timing and synchrony have been a topic of great interest in evolutionary ecology for decades. Originally motivated by questions related to behavioral and reproductive adaptation to environmental conditions, the topic has acquired new relevance in th...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4d6c1fdcef894a72b028c236ba17095e 2023-05-15T15:15:00+02:00 Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe Jenny Mattisson John D. C. Linnell Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Christine Breitenmoser‐Würsten Ludek Bufka Christian Fuxjäger Marco Heurich Gjorge Ivanov Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Radio Kont Rafał Kowalczyk Miha Krofel Dime Melovski Deniz Mengüllüoğlu Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Anja Molinari‐Jobin John Odden Jānis Ozoliņš Henryk Okarma Jens Persson Krzysztof Schmidt Kristina Vogt Fridolin Zimmermann Henrik Andrén 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9147 https://doaj.org/article/4d6c1fdcef894a72b028c236ba17095e EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9147 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.9147 https://doaj.org/article/4d6c1fdcef894a72b028c236ba17095e Ecology and Evolution, Vol 12, Iss 8, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) carnivore demography Lynx lynx reproductive phenology Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9147 2022-12-30T20:17:31Z Abstract The ecology and evolution of reproductive timing and synchrony have been a topic of great interest in evolutionary ecology for decades. Originally motivated by questions related to behavioral and reproductive adaptation to environmental conditions, the topic has acquired new relevance in the face of climate change. However, there has been relatively little research on reproductive phenology in mammalian carnivores. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) occurs across the Eurasian continent, covering three of the four main climate regions of the world. Thus, their distribution includes a large variation in climatic conditions, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology. Here, we used data on multiple reproductive events from 169 lynx females across Europe. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was ~10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Birth dates were relatively synchronized across Europe, but more so in the north than in the south. Timing of birth was delayed by colder May temperatures. Severe and cold weather may affect neonatal survival via hypothermia and avoiding inclement weather early in the season may select against early births, especially at northern latitudes. Overall, only about half of the kittens born survived until onset of winter but whether kittens were born relatively late or early did not affect kitten survival. Lynx are strict seasonal breeders but still show a degree of flexibility to adapt the timing of birth to surrounding environmental conditions. We argue that lynx give birth later when exposed to colder spring temperatures and have more synchronized births when the window of favorable conditions for raising kittens is shorter. This suggests that lynx are well adapted to different environmental conditions, from dry and warm climates to alpine, boreal, and arctic climates. This variation in reproductive timing will be favorable in times of climate change, as organisms with high plasticity are more likely to adjust to new ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Ecology and Evolution 12 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
carnivore demography Lynx lynx reproductive phenology Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
carnivore demography Lynx lynx reproductive phenology Ecology QH540-549.5 Jenny Mattisson John D. C. Linnell Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Christine Breitenmoser‐Würsten Ludek Bufka Christian Fuxjäger Marco Heurich Gjorge Ivanov Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Radio Kont Rafał Kowalczyk Miha Krofel Dime Melovski Deniz Mengüllüoğlu Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Anja Molinari‐Jobin John Odden Jānis Ozoliņš Henryk Okarma Jens Persson Krzysztof Schmidt Kristina Vogt Fridolin Zimmermann Henrik Andrén Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe |
topic_facet |
carnivore demography Lynx lynx reproductive phenology Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract The ecology and evolution of reproductive timing and synchrony have been a topic of great interest in evolutionary ecology for decades. Originally motivated by questions related to behavioral and reproductive adaptation to environmental conditions, the topic has acquired new relevance in the face of climate change. However, there has been relatively little research on reproductive phenology in mammalian carnivores. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) occurs across the Eurasian continent, covering three of the four main climate regions of the world. Thus, their distribution includes a large variation in climatic conditions, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology. Here, we used data on multiple reproductive events from 169 lynx females across Europe. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was ~10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Birth dates were relatively synchronized across Europe, but more so in the north than in the south. Timing of birth was delayed by colder May temperatures. Severe and cold weather may affect neonatal survival via hypothermia and avoiding inclement weather early in the season may select against early births, especially at northern latitudes. Overall, only about half of the kittens born survived until onset of winter but whether kittens were born relatively late or early did not affect kitten survival. Lynx are strict seasonal breeders but still show a degree of flexibility to adapt the timing of birth to surrounding environmental conditions. We argue that lynx give birth later when exposed to colder spring temperatures and have more synchronized births when the window of favorable conditions for raising kittens is shorter. This suggests that lynx are well adapted to different environmental conditions, from dry and warm climates to alpine, boreal, and arctic climates. This variation in reproductive timing will be favorable in times of climate change, as organisms with high plasticity are more likely to adjust to new ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jenny Mattisson John D. C. Linnell Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Christine Breitenmoser‐Würsten Ludek Bufka Christian Fuxjäger Marco Heurich Gjorge Ivanov Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Radio Kont Rafał Kowalczyk Miha Krofel Dime Melovski Deniz Mengüllüoğlu Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Anja Molinari‐Jobin John Odden Jānis Ozoliņš Henryk Okarma Jens Persson Krzysztof Schmidt Kristina Vogt Fridolin Zimmermann Henrik Andrén |
author_facet |
Jenny Mattisson John D. C. Linnell Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Christine Breitenmoser‐Würsten Ludek Bufka Christian Fuxjäger Marco Heurich Gjorge Ivanov Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski Radio Kont Rafał Kowalczyk Miha Krofel Dime Melovski Deniz Mengüllüoğlu Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Anja Molinari‐Jobin John Odden Jānis Ozoliņš Henryk Okarma Jens Persson Krzysztof Schmidt Kristina Vogt Fridolin Zimmermann Henrik Andrén |
author_sort |
Jenny Mattisson |
title |
Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe |
title_short |
Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe |
title_full |
Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe |
title_fullStr |
Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe |
title_sort |
timing and synchrony of birth in eurasian lynx across europe |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9147 https://doaj.org/article/4d6c1fdcef894a72b028c236ba17095e |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 12, Iss 8, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9147 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.9147 https://doaj.org/article/4d6c1fdcef894a72b028c236ba17095e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9147 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
8 |
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1766345381856149504 |