Skip Navigation


Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on June 6, 2006
Behavioral Ecology 2006 17(5):733-740; doi:10.1093/beheco/arl002
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
17/5/733    most recent
arl002v1
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 Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
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 (6)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Le Galliard, J.-F.
Right arrow Articles by Stenseth, N.C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Le Galliard, J.-F.
Right arrow Articles by Stenseth, N.C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Natal dispersal, interactions among siblings and intrasexual competition

Jean-François Le Galliarda, G. Gundersena, H.P. Andreassenb and N.C. Stensetha

a Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, PO Box 1050, Blindern, Oslo NO-0316, Norway and b Faculty of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Hedmark University College, Koppang NO-2480, Norway

Address correspondence to J.-F. Le Galliard, who is now at CNRS–UMR 7625, Universite Paris 6, 7 Quai St Bernard, 75005 Paris, France. E-mail: galliard{at}biologie.ens.fr.

According to the classical model of a polygynous mating system, male-biased dispersal is a consequence of inbreeding avoidance and sexual asymmetries in competition. However, kin cooperation can change the costs and benefits of dispersal to each sex and may also select for philopatry in females. Here, we report from an experimental study designed to tease apart the effects of competition, cooperation, and inbreeding avoidance on natal dispersal in juvenile root voles (Microtus oeconomus). We manipulated the presence of opposite-sex littermates and tested how interactions among siblings influence dispersal and sexual maturation. We also manipulated the juvenile sex ratio to compare the strength of intrasexual versus intersexual competition. Natal dispersal was unrelated to the juvenile sex ratio, females aggregated in space, and there was a consistent spatial overlap among sisters. Males dispersed more in the absence of their sisters, resulting in stronger spatial segregation between sexes, than in the presence of their sisters. Thus, natal dispersal did not reduce the risks of interactions with siblings and intrasexual competition. We suggest that kin clusters in females function as a defense against aggressive or infanticidal behavior by unfamiliar males.

Key words: inbreeding avoidance, infanticide, intrasexual competition, kin cooperation, maturation, natal dispersal.


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
B. Gauffre, E. Petit, S. Brodier, V. Bretagnolle, and J. F. Cosson
Sex-biased dispersal patterns depend on the spatial scale in a social rodent
Proc R Soc B, October 7, 2009; 276(1672): 3487 - 3494.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
M. Nagy, G. Heckel, C. C Voigt, and F. Mayer
Female-biased dispersal and patrilocal kin groups in a mammal with resource-defence polygyny
Proc R Soc B, December 7, 2007; 274(1628): 3019 - 3025.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
J-F Le Galliard, G Gundersen, and H Steen
Mother-offspring interactions do not affect natal dispersal in a small rodent
Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2007; 18(4): 665 - 673.
[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.