Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore
Peeters, B., V. Veiberg, A. Ø. Pedersen, A. Stien, R. J. Irvine, R. Aanes, B.-E. Sæther, O. Strand, and B. B. Hansen. 2017. Climate and density dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore. Ecosphere 8(2):e01699. 10.1002/ecs2.1699 Variation in adult sex ratio (ASR) affects...
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ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/2443355 2023-05-15T14:54:26+02:00 Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore Peeters, Bart Veiberg, Vebjørn Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Irvine, Robert Justin Aanes, Ronny Sæther, Bernt-Erik Strand, Olav Hansen, Brage Bremset Svalbard, Norway 2017 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443355 eng eng urn:issn:2150-8925 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443355 cristin:1428510 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no CC-BY e01699 8 Ecosphere 2 caribou climate change density dependence environment icing management population structure rain-on-snow (ROS) reproductive strategy survival ungulate VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Journal article Peer reviewed 2017 ftninstnf 2021-12-23T07:17:15Z Peeters, B., V. Veiberg, A. Ø. Pedersen, A. Stien, R. J. Irvine, R. Aanes, B.-E. Sæther, O. Strand, and B. B. Hansen. 2017. Climate and density dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore. Ecosphere 8(2):e01699. 10.1002/ecs2.1699 Variation in adult sex ratio (ASR) affects population demography and dynamics of large mammals. The mechanisms behind this variation are largely unclear, but may be partly related to climatic drivers and density dependence operating differently on the adult male and female segments of the population. Here, we examine such drivers of annual changes in ASR in the predator-free wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), a high Arctic subspecies whose population dynamics are shaped by climate. Using up to 35 year long time-series of population count data from two populations, we disentangle drivers of fluctuations in ASR by first analyzing how climate and density dependence affect sex-specific adult population growth rates through effects on mortality. There were a positive population size trend and an overall female bias in ASR throughout the study period. Increased winter precipitation, a proxy for the harshness of winter feeding conditions, was found to significantly reduce adult population growth rates through reduced survival in males, but not in females. However, increased population size tended to cause a stronger immediate decline in female than in male adult population growth rates. As a consequence, the female bias in ASR increased with harsher winter conditions and declined with higher population size. As expected from the increased frequency of rainy and icy winters due to climate warming, a recent trend toward increased female bias in ASR was evident. This demonstrates that climatic drivers of both short-term fluctuations and long-term trends in demography need to be accounted for in the management and population dynamic predictions of Arctic ungulates. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA Arctic Svalbard Norway Pedersen ENVELOPE(140.013,140.013,-66.668,-66.668) Stien ENVELOPE(12.536,12.536,65.440,65.440) Veiberg ENVELOPE(13.825,13.825,68.240,68.240) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA |
op_collection_id |
ftninstnf |
language |
English |
topic |
caribou climate change density dependence environment icing management population structure rain-on-snow (ROS) reproductive strategy survival ungulate VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
spellingShingle |
caribou climate change density dependence environment icing management population structure rain-on-snow (ROS) reproductive strategy survival ungulate VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Peeters, Bart Veiberg, Vebjørn Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Irvine, Robert Justin Aanes, Ronny Sæther, Bernt-Erik Strand, Olav Hansen, Brage Bremset Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore |
topic_facet |
caribou climate change density dependence environment icing management population structure rain-on-snow (ROS) reproductive strategy survival ungulate VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
description |
Peeters, B., V. Veiberg, A. Ø. Pedersen, A. Stien, R. J. Irvine, R. Aanes, B.-E. Sæther, O. Strand, and B. B. Hansen. 2017. Climate and density dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore. Ecosphere 8(2):e01699. 10.1002/ecs2.1699 Variation in adult sex ratio (ASR) affects population demography and dynamics of large mammals. The mechanisms behind this variation are largely unclear, but may be partly related to climatic drivers and density dependence operating differently on the adult male and female segments of the population. Here, we examine such drivers of annual changes in ASR in the predator-free wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), a high Arctic subspecies whose population dynamics are shaped by climate. Using up to 35 year long time-series of population count data from two populations, we disentangle drivers of fluctuations in ASR by first analyzing how climate and density dependence affect sex-specific adult population growth rates through effects on mortality. There were a positive population size trend and an overall female bias in ASR throughout the study period. Increased winter precipitation, a proxy for the harshness of winter feeding conditions, was found to significantly reduce adult population growth rates through reduced survival in males, but not in females. However, increased population size tended to cause a stronger immediate decline in female than in male adult population growth rates. As a consequence, the female bias in ASR increased with harsher winter conditions and declined with higher population size. As expected from the increased frequency of rainy and icy winters due to climate warming, a recent trend toward increased female bias in ASR was evident. This demonstrates that climatic drivers of both short-term fluctuations and long-term trends in demography need to be accounted for in the management and population dynamic predictions of Arctic ungulates. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peeters, Bart Veiberg, Vebjørn Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Irvine, Robert Justin Aanes, Ronny Sæther, Bernt-Erik Strand, Olav Hansen, Brage Bremset |
author_facet |
Peeters, Bart Veiberg, Vebjørn Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik Stien, Audun Irvine, Robert Justin Aanes, Ronny Sæther, Bernt-Erik Strand, Olav Hansen, Brage Bremset |
author_sort |
Peeters, Bart |
title |
Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore |
title_short |
Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore |
title_full |
Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore |
title_fullStr |
Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large Arctic herbivore |
title_sort |
climate and density-dependence cause changes in adult sex ratio in a large arctic herbivore |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443355 |
op_coverage |
Svalbard, Norway |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.013,140.013,-66.668,-66.668) ENVELOPE(12.536,12.536,65.440,65.440) ENVELOPE(13.825,13.825,68.240,68.240) |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Norway Pedersen Stien Veiberg |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Norway Pedersen Stien Veiberg |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Svalbard svalbard reindeer |
op_source |
e01699 8 Ecosphere 2 |
op_relation |
urn:issn:2150-8925 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443355 cristin:1428510 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766326168802295808 |