LTREB: Lifetime Fitness Consequences of Reproductive Strategies

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This project uses a long-term study of individually-marked Black Brant Geese in Alaska to understand how producing young in a given year affects an individual's future ability to produce young. Female geese expend substantial nutrients to produce and incubate a clutch of eggs and to care for their broods. Because geese store and deplete nutrients on time scales of several months, use of nutrients for one reproductive attempt may reduce their availability for future reproductive efforts. Nutrient use during reproduction may also reduce future adult survival. Studies of senescence suggest that use of nutrients during reproduction inhibits maintenance at the cellular level and results in earlier senescence. This study relies on substantial numbers of individuals older than 20 years to study impacts of reproductive effort early in life on senescent decline. The number of Black Brant Geese breeding in Alaska has declined over the past four decades. This study provides principal data used by managers to understand factors influencing population size and dynamics. Data from this project have been influential in management of this species on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge and throughout their range. Investigators also work closely with local Yupik native residents of western Alaska and employ young people from Chevak, the nearest village.