Lifetime fitness consequences of early-life ecological hardship in a wild mammal population
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ecology and evolution
Abstract
Early-life
ecological conditions have major effects on survival and reproduction.
Numerous studies in wild systems show fitness benefits of good quality early-life
ecological
conditions (“silver-spoon”
effects). Recently, however, some studies have reported
that poor-quality
early-life
ecological conditions are associated with later-life
fitness advantages and that the effect of early-life
conditions can be sex-specific.
Furthermore, few studies have investigated the effect of the variability of early-life
ecological conditions on later-life
fitness. Here, we test how the mean and variability
of early-life
ecological conditions affect the longevity and reproduction of males and
females using 14 years of data on wild banded mongooses (Mungos mungo). Males that
experienced highly variable ecological conditions during development lived longer and
had greater lifetime fitness, while those that experienced poor early-life
conditions
lived longer but at a cost of reduced fertility. In females, there were no such effects.
Our study suggests that exposure to more variable environments in early life can result
in lifetime fitness benefits, whereas differences in the mean early-life
conditions
experienced mediate a life-history
trade-off
between survival and reproduction. It also
demonstrates how early-life
ecological conditions can produce different selection
pressures on males and females.
Description
Keywords
Early-life, Ecological variability, Fitness effects, Life-history strategy, Mammal, Sex-specific
Citation
Marshall, H. H., Vitikainen, E. I., Mwanguhya, F., Businge, R., Kyabulima, S., Hares, M. C., ... & Cant, M. A. (2017). Lifetime fitness consequences of early‐life ecological hardship in a wild mammal population. Ecology and evolution, 7(6), 1712-1724. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2747