Projects per year
Abstract
The interaction between philopatry and nonrandom mating has important consequences for the genetic structure of populations, influencing co-ancestry within social groups but also inbreeding. Here, using genetic paternity data, we describe mating patterns in a wild population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) which are associated with marked consequences for co-ancestry and inbreeding in the population. Around a fifth of females mate with a male with whom they have mated previously, and further, females frequently mate with a male with whom a female relative has also mated (intralineage polygyny). Both of these phenomena occur more than expected under random mating. Using simulations, we demonstrate that temporal and spatial factors, as well as skew in male breeding success, are important in promoting both re-mating behaviours and intralineage polygyny. However, the information modelled was not sufficient to explain the extent to which these behaviours occurred. We show that re-mating and intralineage polygyny are associated with increased pairwise relatedness in the population and a rise in average inbreeding coefficients. In particular, the latter resulted from a correlation between male relatedness and rutting location, with related males being more likely to rut in proximity to one another. These patterns, alongside their consequences for the genetic structure of the population, have rarely been documented in wild polygynous mammals, yet they have important implications for our understanding of genetic structure, inbreeding avoidance and dispersal in such systems.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2457-2469 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Evolutionary Biology |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2012 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Cervus elaphus
- dispersal
- genetic structure
- inbreeding avoidance
- philopatry
- relatedness
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Re-mating across years and intralineage polygyny are associated with greater than expected levels of inbreeding in wild red deer'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Explaining responses to climate change in a wild vetebrate population
Kruuk, L., Nussey, D. & Pemberton, J.
1/12/11 → 30/09/15
Project: Research
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Early-life environmental effects on ageing in an evolutionary context
1/09/10 → 31/08/16
Project: Research
Datasets
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Data from: Re-mating across years and intra-lineage polygyny are associated with greater than expected levels of inbreeding in wild red deer
Stopher, K. V. (Creator), Nussey, D. (Creator), Clutton-Brock, T. H. (Creator), Guinness, F. (Creator), Morris, A. (Creator) & Pemberton, J. (Creator), Dryad, 24 Aug 2012
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vc86n, https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.vc86n
Dataset