Reproduktionsverhaltens unter Prädationsrisiko: Machen Mütter Kompromisse zwischen der Sicherheit für ihre Nestlinge und ihren künftigen Reproduktionsmöglichkeiten?
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
Individuals do not only have to eat without been eaten, they also have to balance the risk of mortality for themselves and their offspring, with their investment into reproduction. Female mammals invest time and energy in gestation, lactation and parenting. They also have to protect their offspring against predation and infanticide by conspecifics, often by unrelated males. We studied reproductive trade offs for female mammals under infanticide risk, using small rodents which invest heavily into reproduction, often balancing current and future reproduction by simultaneous pregnancy and lactation, facing constant risks of predation for themselves and their offspring and the additional risk of infanticide by conspecific males. We found that rodent females are able to flexibly allocated time spent between searching for a mate and protecting their nest, which was modulated by their familiarity with a potential intruder and the value of the reproductive investiment, i.e. the size of litter and its age.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
-
Reproductive behaviours in a risky world: are mothers trading-off offspring safety for future fitness? 110th meeting of the German Zoological Societa DZG in Bielefeld, Germany 12.-15. September 2017
Eccard, J.A., Breedveld, M., Reil, D. & Schirmer A.
-
Reproductive behaviour of mothers facing infanticide risk. 6th International Conference of Rodent Biology and Management and 16th Rodens et Spatium : Potsdam, Germany, 3-7 September 2018 ; Book of Abstracts, JuliusKühn-Archiv
Breedveld, M.C., Folkertsma, R. & Eccard, J.A.
-
The scent of infanticide risk? Behavioural allocation to current and future reproduction in response to mating opportunity and familiarity with intruder. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 72(11).
Eccard, J. A.; Reil, D.; Folkertsma, R. & Schirmer, A.
-
Rodent mothers increase vigilance behaviour when facing infanticide risk. Scientific Reports, 9(1).
Breedveld, Merel C.; Folkertsma, Remco & Eccard, Jana A.
