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Reproductive senescence in free-ranging North American elk Cervus elaphus Cervidae

  • Louis C. Bender EMAIL logo and Jessica R. Piasecke
Published/Copyright: March 7, 2019

Abstract

Successful production of calves is necessary for growth of North American elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus 1758) populations, but few studies have evaluated age-related effects on both the conception and survival of a calf to weaning in multiple free-ranging populations. Conception and survival of calves to weaning were both affected by maternal age, with old (age 9 and older) females showing reproductive senescence as compared to prime-aged (ages 2–8) females despite achieving similar or greater size and condition. Reproductive senescence in our free-ranging populations ultimately resulted in old females weaning fewer calves (0.42 calves/female) than did prime-aged females (0.64 calves/female). Other factors, especially maternal size, also influenced conception and survival to weaning, and these interacted with age in a consistent manner, i.e. larger females or females in better condition were more likely to conceive and successfully wean calves within each age class. Female age structure receives less consideration in ungulate management than does male age structure, despite demonstrated impacts on population productivity of multiple species because of reproductive senescence. Because of the large proportion of individuals in senesced age classes in elk populations, low productivity in populations may simply reflect female age structure, rather than other frequently hypothesized factors.

Acknowledgments

We thank all individuals who assisted with all aspects of the projects which provided data for this study. Thanks for funding and cooperation for the various aspects of this project go to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (Las Cruces Field Office), U.S. Department of Defense (White Sands Missile Range and Ft. Riley), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (San Andres National Wildlife Refuge), U.S. Forest Service (Lincoln National Forest), U.S. National Park Service (Chaco Culture National Historic Park and Rocky Mountain National Park), Michigan Department of Natural Resources, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Crown Pacific, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Quillayute Tribe, Swinomish Tribe, Upper Skagit Tribe, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the New Mexico State University, Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station.

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Received: 2018-04-25
Accepted: 2019-01-15
Published Online: 2019-03-07
Published in Print: 2019-11-26

©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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