Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Lifetime Inclusive Fitness Effects Of Cooperative Polygamy In The Acorn Woodpecker, Walter D. Koenig, Sahas Barve, Joseph Haydock, Eric L. Walters Jan 2023

Lifetime Inclusive Fitness Effects Of Cooperative Polygamy In The Acorn Woodpecker, Walter D. Koenig, Sahas Barve, Joseph Haydock, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Although over 50 y have passed since W. D. Hamilton articulated kin selection and inclusive fitness as evolutionary explanations for altruistic behavior, quantifying inclusive fitness continues to be challenging. Here, using 30 y of data and two alternative methods, we outline an approach to measure lifetime inclusive fitness effects of cooperative polygamy (mate-sharing or cobreeding) in the cooperatively breeding acorn woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus. For both sexes, the number of offspring (observed direct fitness) declined while the number of young parented by related cobreeders (observed indirect fitness effect) increased with cobreeding coalition size. Combining these two factors, the observed inclusive …


Population Ecology Of The Golden Mouse, Robert K. Rose Jan 2008

Population Ecology Of The Golden Mouse, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

An understanding of the population dynamics of a species requires knowledge of the major life-history parameters of a population, including age at maturity, distribution of age classes, and lifetime reproductive contribution of the sexes, sex ratio, length of the breeding season, mean litter size, rates of growth and survival, and life span. Because few long-term studies have been conducted with Ochrotomys nuttalli as the focal species of investigation, only fragmentary information is available for many population parameters. As importantly, densities of golden mice often are low, making them difficult to evaluate statistically. Little has been published on age at maturity …


Breeding Birds In Cedar Stands In The Great Dismal Swamp, Karen A. Terwilliger, Robert K. Rose Jan 1984

Breeding Birds In Cedar Stands In The Great Dismal Swamp, Karen A. Terwilliger, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Great Dismal Swamp located in the coastal plain on the Virginia- North Carolina border, has long been recognized as a vegetationally distinctive region with many unusual geological and biological features. Formerly at least twice the currently estimated size of 85,000 hectares (Carter 1979), the Great Dismal Swamp is still shrinking because of a dropping water table caused by more than 200 years of logging, ditching, and other human activities. In 1973, the Union Camp Corporation donated a 19,871-hectare tract located near Suffolk, Virginia. to The Nature Conservancy, which transferred the land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This …


The Reproductive Cycle Of Microtus Ochrogaster In Eastern Kansas, Robert K. Rose, Michael S. Gaines Jan 1978

The Reproductive Cycle Of Microtus Ochrogaster In Eastern Kansas, Robert K. Rose, Michael S. Gaines

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

About 800 Microtus ochrogaster were live—trapped at biweekly intervals from May 1971 through March 1973 in 3 grassland study areas in eastern Kansas, USA. Details of reproduction were determined by autopsy. Population density increased through the first winter, reached a peak in April 1972, then declined sharply during that summer and beyond. Body length, but not body mass, tended to be positively related to density. Both sexes matured at about the same weight; development was somewhat prolonged during the winter months, especially in the winter preceding the population peak. Pregnancy rates were high, approaching maximal iteroparity, throughout the study, with …


Population Dynamics Of Microtus Ochrogaster In Eastern Kansas, Michael S. Gaines, Robert K. Rose Jan 1976

Population Dynamics Of Microtus Ochrogaster In Eastern Kansas, Michael S. Gaines, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Four eastern Kansas populations of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster were live trapped from 1970—73 to gain insight into the population regulation of this species. All four populations exhibited a 2—yr cycle in numbers with peak densities generally occurring in June 1972. Peak densities were followed by a decline in numbers, a recovery, and a population crash in spring 1973. Reproductive parameters changed dramatically as density rose and fell. The summer breeding season in the crash year of 1973 was shortened by at least 3 mo. A reduction in breeding activity occurred during the summer of every year of the …