Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate
The demographic and environmental influences on large mammal morphology are central questions in ecology. We investigated the effects of population abundance and climate on body size and number of male antler points for the La Poile and Middle Ridge caribou (Rangifer tarandus, L. 1758) herds, Newfou...
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2011
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ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/1917 2023-05-15T17:19:49+02:00 Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate Mahoney, Shane P. Weir, Jackie N. Luther, J. Glenn Schaefer, James A. Morrison, Shawn F. 2011-04-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1917 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.31.1.1917 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1917/1783 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1917 doi:10.7557/2.31.1.1917 Copyright (c) 2015 Shane P. Mahoney, Jackie N. Weir, J. Glenn Luther, James A. Schaefer, Shawn F. Morrison http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Årg 31 Nr 1 (2011); 21-34 Rangifer; Vol 31 No 1 (2011); 21-34 1890-6729 antler caribou climate Newfoundland competition diastema density morphology NAO forage nutrition Rangifer tarandus info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2011 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.31.1.1917 2021-08-16T15:08:40Z The demographic and environmental influences on large mammal morphology are central questions in ecology. We investigated the effects of population abundance and climate on body size and number of male antler points for the La Poile and Middle Ridge caribou (Rangifer tarandus, L. 1758) herds, Newfoundland, Canada. Across 40 years and 20-fold changes in abundance, adult males and females exhibited diminished stature as indicated by jawbone size (diastema and total mandible length) and the number of antler points at the time of harvest. Associations between jawbone size and population abundance at birth were consistently negative for both herds, both sexes, and all age classes. Large-scale climate patterns, as measured by the North Atlantic Oscillation in the winter prior to birth, were also negatively associated with jawbone size. Declines in male antler size, as measured by the number of antler points, were not well predicted by either abundance or climate, suggesting other factors (e.g., current, rather than latent, foraging conditions) may be involved. We conclude that these morphological changes indicate competition for food resources. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Rangifer Rangifer tarandus University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Canada Rangifer 31 1 21 34 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
antler caribou climate Newfoundland competition diastema density morphology NAO forage nutrition Rangifer tarandus |
spellingShingle |
antler caribou climate Newfoundland competition diastema density morphology NAO forage nutrition Rangifer tarandus Mahoney, Shane P. Weir, Jackie N. Luther, J. Glenn Schaefer, James A. Morrison, Shawn F. Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate |
topic_facet |
antler caribou climate Newfoundland competition diastema density morphology NAO forage nutrition Rangifer tarandus |
description |
The demographic and environmental influences on large mammal morphology are central questions in ecology. We investigated the effects of population abundance and climate on body size and number of male antler points for the La Poile and Middle Ridge caribou (Rangifer tarandus, L. 1758) herds, Newfoundland, Canada. Across 40 years and 20-fold changes in abundance, adult males and females exhibited diminished stature as indicated by jawbone size (diastema and total mandible length) and the number of antler points at the time of harvest. Associations between jawbone size and population abundance at birth were consistently negative for both herds, both sexes, and all age classes. Large-scale climate patterns, as measured by the North Atlantic Oscillation in the winter prior to birth, were also negatively associated with jawbone size. Declines in male antler size, as measured by the number of antler points, were not well predicted by either abundance or climate, suggesting other factors (e.g., current, rather than latent, foraging conditions) may be involved. We conclude that these morphological changes indicate competition for food resources. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mahoney, Shane P. Weir, Jackie N. Luther, J. Glenn Schaefer, James A. Morrison, Shawn F. |
author_facet |
Mahoney, Shane P. Weir, Jackie N. Luther, J. Glenn Schaefer, James A. Morrison, Shawn F. |
author_sort |
Mahoney, Shane P. |
title |
Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate |
title_short |
Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate |
title_full |
Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate |
title_fullStr |
Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Morphological change in Newfoundland caribou: Effects of abundance and climate |
title_sort |
morphological change in newfoundland caribou: effects of abundance and climate |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1917 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.31.1.1917 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Newfoundland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer; Årg 31 Nr 1 (2011); 21-34 Rangifer; Vol 31 No 1 (2011); 21-34 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1917/1783 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1917 doi:10.7557/2.31.1.1917 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Shane P. Mahoney, Jackie N. Weir, J. Glenn Luther, James A. Schaefer, Shawn F. Morrison http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.31.1.1917 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
21 |
op_container_end_page |
34 |
_version_ |
1766095695081635840 |