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Effects of population density on static allometry between horn length and body mass in mountain ungulates
Author(s) -
Pélabon Christophe,
Côté Steeve D.,
FestaBianchet Marco,
Gaillard JeanMichel,
Garel Mathieu,
Lemaître JeanFrancois,
Loison Anne,
Tidière Morgane,
Toïgo Carole
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
oikos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1600-0706
pISSN - 0030-1299
DOI - 10.1111/oik.08726
Subject(s) - allometry , sexual dimorphism , biology , population density , population , tree allometry , french horn , ovis canadensis , zoology , ecology , ovis , biomass (ecology) , demography , psychology , biomass partitioning , pedagogy , sociology
Little is known about the effects of environmental variation on allometric relationships of condition‐dependent traits, especially in wild populations. We estimated sex‐specific static allometry between horn length and body mass in four populations of mountain ungulates that experienced periods of contrasting density over the course of the study. These species displayed contrasting sexual dimorphism in horn size; high dimorphism in Capra ibex and Ovis canadensis and low dimorphism in Rupicapra rupicapra and Oreamnos americanus . The effects of density on static allometric slopes were weak and inconsistent while allometric intercepts were generally lower at high density, especially in males from species with high sexual dimorphism in horn length. These results confirm that static allometric slopes are more canalized than allometric intercepts against environmental variation induced by changes in population density.