The ecology of conception and pregnancy failure in wild baboons
The ecology of conception and pregnancy failure in wild baboons
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DOI：
10.1093/beheco/arl006
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发表时间：
2006-09-01
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Altmann, Jeanne
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Beehner, Jacinta C.;Onderdonk, Daphne A.;Altmann, Jeanne
环境条件是影响繁殖成败的关键因素。因此，许多哺乳动物类群都有繁殖季节，以协调关键的生殖阶段和最佳的环境条件。然而，与大多数哺乳动物不同的是，肯尼亚的巴布亚(Papio Cynocephalus)全年都会繁殖。在这里，我们偏离了评估季节对生殖的影响的典型方法，而是对导致雌性生殖的实际生态条件进行了更精细的分析。我们的目标是确定环境条件，结合社会和人口因素，可能如何调节狒狒的繁殖。该数据集包括1976年至2004年期间安博塞利盆地多个狒狒种群的所有雌性生殖周期。结果表明，在经历了一段时间的干旱或酷热之后，女性骑自行车的可能性比预期的要小得多。如果女性确实在这些情况下进行周期，她们就不太可能怀孕；如果她们在干旱后怀孕(热影响不显著)，她们成功怀孕的可能性就更小。年龄也显著地预示着受孕失败；在最年轻和最年长的骑自行车的女性中，受孕概率最低。还有一种趋势是，在怀孕的前三个月，环境温度过高会导致胎儿死亡，但其他三个月的孕妇则不会。最后，群体规模和干旱条件对受孕概率的影响是相互作用的。尽管所有群体中的雌性在最佳条件下受孕的概率都是相等的，但在干旱时期，大群体中的雌性受孕的可能性低于小群体中的雌性。这些结果表明，在高度多变的环境中，附近的生态条件和个体人口统计因素之间的相互作用对狒狒的繁殖成功起着中介作用。
Environmental conditions are a key factor mediating reproductive success or failure. Consequently, many mammalian taxa have breeding seasons that coordinate critical reproductive stages with optimal environmental conditions. However, in contrast with most mammals, baboons (Papio cynocephalus) of Kenya reproduce throughout the year. Here we depart from the typical approach of evaluating seasonal effects on reproduction and engage in a more fine-grained analysis of the actual ecological conditions leading up to reproduction for females. Our aim was to determine how environmental conditions, in combination with social and demographic factors, might mediate baboon reproduction. The data set includes all female reproductive cycles from multiple baboon groups in the Amboseli basin between 1976 and 2004. Results indicate that after periods of drought or extreme heat, females were significantly less likely to cycle than expected. If females did cycle after these conditions, they were less likely to conceive; and if they did conceive after drought (heat effects were nonsignificant), they were less likely to have a successful pregnancy. Age also significantly predicted conceptive failure; conceptive probability was lowest among the youngest and oldest cycling females. There was also a trend for high ambient temperatures to contribute to fetal loss during the first trimester but not other trimesters. Finally, group size and drought conditions interacted in their effects on the probability of conception. Although females in all groups had equal conception probabilities during optimal conditions, females in large groups were less likely than those in small groups to conceive during periods of drought. These results indicate that in a highly variable environment, baboon reproductive success is mediated by the interaction between proximate ecological conditions and individual demographic factors.