Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (58)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Berube, C. H.
Right arrow Articles by Jorgenson, J. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Berube, C. H.
Right arrow Articles by Jorgenson, J. T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1996 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

research-article

Reproductive costs of sons and daughters in Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep

Celine H. Berubea, Marco Festa-Biancheta and John T. Jorgensonb

aGroupe de recherche en ecologie, nutrition et energetique, Departement de biologie, Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada, bAlberta Fish and Wildlife, Box 1059, Canmore, Alberta TOL 0M0, Canada

ABSTRACT

Differential maternal investment theory predicts that in sexually dimorphic and polygynous species mothers should invest more in sons than in daughters. We tested the hypothesis that bighorn ewes that raise sons incur greater reproductive costs than ewes that raise daughters. Although ewe mass gain during lactation and subsequent winter body mass loss were independent of lamb sex, lambs born the year following the weaning of a son had lower survival than lambs born after a daughter. The effects of lamb sex on subsequent reproductive success of ewes became more evident at high population density. Lamb sex did not affect maternal survival. Population density, weather, and ewe age did not alter the relationship between lamb sex and subsequent reproductive success of the ewe. The year after weaning a son, ewes were more likely to have a daughter than a son, while ewes that had previously weaned a daughter had similar numbers of sons and daughters. Our results show that for bighorn sheep ewes, sons have a greater life-history cost than daughters, suggesting a differential maternal investment in the sexes.

Key words: costs of reproduction, differential maternal investment, Ovis canadensis, reproductive success, sex ratio.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
K. V Stopher, J. M Pemberton, T. H Clutton-Brock, and T. Coulson
Individual differences, density dependence and offspring birth traits in a population of red deer
Proc R Soc B, September 22, 2008; 275(1647): 2137 - 2145.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biol LettHome page
G Proaktor, E.J Milner-Gulland, and T Coulson
Age-related shapes of the cost of reproduction in vertebrates
Biol Lett, December 22, 2007; 3(6): 674 - 677.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
I. J Rickard, A. F Russell, and V. Lummaa
Producing sons reduces lifetime reproductive success of subsequent offspring in pre-industrial Finns
Proc R Soc B, December 7, 2007; 274(1628): 2981 - 2988.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
P. Blanchard, M. Festa-Bianchet, J.-M. Gaillard, and J. T. Jorgenson
Maternal condition and offspring sex ratio in polygynous ungulates: a case study of bighorn sheep
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2005; 16(1): 274 - 279.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
C. Bonenfant, J.-M. Gaillard, A. Loison, and F. Klein
Sex-ratio variation and reproductive costs in relation to density in a forest-dwelling population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2003; 14(6): 862 - 869.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
E. Strohm and A. Marliani
The cost of parental care: prey hunting in a digger wasp
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2002; 13(1): 52 - 58.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
R. J. Sarno and W. L. Franklin
Maternal expenditure in the polygynous and monomorphic guanaco: suckling behavior, reproductive effort, yearly variation, and influence on juvenile survival
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 1999; 10(1): 41 - 47.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.