Sex- and age-dependent patterns of survival and breeding success in a long-lived endangered avian scavenger.

ABSTRACT: In long-lived species, the age-, stage- and/or sex-dependent patterns of survival and reproduction determine the evolution of life history strategies, the shape of the reproductive value, and ultimately population dynamics. We evaluate the combined effects of age and sex in recruitment, breeder survival and breeding success of the globally endangered Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), using 31-years of exhaustive data on marked individuals in Spain. Mean age of first reproduction was 7-yrs for both sexes, but females showed an earlier median and a larger variance than males. We found an age-related improvement in breeding success at the population level responding to the selective appearance and disappearance of phenotypes of different quality but unrelated to within-individual agin

SUBMITTER: Sanz-Aguilar A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5225485 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature