Maternal survival costs in an asocial mammal.

ABSTRACT: Maternal characteristics, social dynamics, and environmental factors can all influence reproduction and survival and shape trade-offs that might arise between these components of fitness. Short-lived mammals like the golden-mantled ground squirrel (GMGS; Callospermophilus lateralis) tend to maximize effort toward current reproduction at the expense of survival but may be complicated by other aspects of the species' life history and environment. Here, we use 25 years of data (1995-2020) collected from a population of GMGS at the Rocky Mountain Biological Research Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, to test the effect of several maternal characteristics (e.g., age, experience, and timing of litter emergence), social context (e.g., litter sex ratio and kin density), and environmental conte

SUBMITTER: Kanaziz R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9092287 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature