Reproductive skipping as an optimal life history strategy in the southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina.

ABSTRACT: Intermittent breeding by which organisms skip some current reproductive opportunities in order to enhance future reproductive success is a common life history trade-off among long-lived, iteroparous species. The southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina engages in intermediate breeding when body condition is low. While it is anticipated that this strategy may increase the lifetime reproductive output of this species, the conditions under which reproductive skipping are predicted to occur are not clear. Here I develop a dynamic state variable model based on published data that examines when southern elephant seals are predicted to optimally skip reproduction in order to maximize lifetime reproductive output as a function of current body mass, maternal age, and survivorship. I demonstra

SUBMITTER: Griffen BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6194220 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature