Bichet Coraline, Allainé Dominique, Sauzet Sandrine, Cohas Aurélie
Laboratoire Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, Université de Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5558, Université Lyon 1, 69622, Villeurbanne, Lyon 69000, France.
Institut für Vogelforschung 'Vogelwarte Helgoland' (Institute of Avian Research), Wilhelmshaven 26386, Germany.
Proc Biol Sci. 2016 Dec 28;283(1845). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2240.
Despite being identified an area that is poorly understood regarding the effects of climate change, behavioural responses to climatic variability are seldom explored. Climatic variability is likely to cause large inter-annual variation in the frequency of extra-pair litters produced, a widespread alternative mating tactic to help prevent, correct or minimize the negative consequences of sub-optimal mate choice. In this study, we investigated how climatic variability affects the inter-annual variation in the proportion of extra-pair litters in a wild population of Alpine marmots. During 22 years of monitoring, the annual proportion of extra-pair litters directly increased with the onset of earlier springs and indirectly with increased snow in winters. Snowier winters resulted in a higher proportion of families with sexually mature male subordinates and thus, created a social context within which extra-pair paternity was favoured. Earlier spring snowmelt could create this pattern by relaxing energetic, movement and time constraints. Further, deeper snow in winter could also contribute by increasing litter size and juvenile survival. Optimal mate choice is particularly relevant to generate adaptive genetic diversity. Understanding the influence of environmental conditions and the capacity of the individuals to cope with them is crucial within the context of rapid climate change.
尽管气候变化的影响在该领域尚未得到充分理解，但很少有人探讨对气候变异的行为反应。气候变异可能导致额外配对产仔频率出现较大的年际变化，这是一种广泛存在的替代交配策略，有助于预防、纠正或最小化次优配偶选择的负面影响。在本研究中，我们调查了气候变异如何影响高山旱獭野生种群中额外配对产仔比例的年际变化。在22年的监测期间，额外配对产仔的年度比例直接随着春季提前开始而增加，间接随着冬季降雪量增加而增加。降雪较多的冬季导致具有性成熟雄性从属个体的家庭比例更高，从而创造了有利于额外配对父权的社会环境。春季融雪提前可以通过缓解能量、活动和时间限制来形成这种模式。此外，冬季积雪更深也可能通过增加产仔数量和幼崽存活率来发挥作用。最佳配偶选择对于产生适应性遗传多样性尤为重要。在快速气候变化的背景下，了解环境条件的影响以及个体应对这些条件的能力至关重要。
