Review of philopatry and its strategy in xeric environments

Over recent decades, dispersal and philopatry in natural populations have been addressed together. However, philopatry, or the tendency of an individual to remain in its birthplace, has received little attention, despite the fact that this trait is present in a considerable number of vertebrates. In this paper we discuss hypotheses that state philopatry generators: life-history variables, ecological constraints, benefits of philopatry and agonistic behaviors. Additionally, we propose that genetic microstructure may be an outcome of such behavior. We conducted an analysis based on the above hypotheses in order to explain the presence of philopatry in rodents of arid environments.