Hata Ayaka, Saeki Midori, Kozakai Chinatsu, Nakashita Rumiko, Fukasawa Keita, Nakajima Yasuhiro, Murata Ryodai, Harada Yuki, Takada Mayura B
Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
PeerJ. 2025 Aug 7;13:e19836. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19836. eCollection 2025.
Owing to agricultural expansion worldwide, agricultural crops can have major effects on the life history traits of wildlife. However, the functional role of crop consumption on the life history traits of long-lived mammals is seldom evaluated quantitatively. Body size is an important life history trait because it is directly related to fitness. In this study, we investigated the functional role of long-term crop consumption on skeletal growth of sika deer (). Crop consumption accelerated skeletal growth of not only the consumer but also the next generation, and its effect differed by sex. In females, the degree of crop consumption produced maximum differences of about 1.4 years in the ages at which 98% asymptotic size was attained. Furthermore, there was a maximum difference of 1.5 times in the skeletal growth rate. On the other hand, crop consumption did not always affect skeletal growth in males. The degree of crop consumption by mothers generated a maximum difference of about 15% in the hind-foot length of their fetus. This study revealed that long-term crop consumption makes a difference in skeletal growth of deer at an individual level, even within the same population. Crop consumption by the mother has "a silver-spoon effect" on the next generation from the fetus stage.
由于全球范围内的农业扩张，农作物会对野生动物的生活史特征产生重大影响。然而，作物消费对长寿哺乳动物生活史特征的功能作用很少得到定量评估。体型是一个重要的生活史特征，因为它与适合度直接相关。在本研究中，我们调查了长期作物消费对梅花鹿骨骼生长的功能作用。作物消费不仅加速了消费者自身的骨骼生长，还加速了下一代的骨骼生长，并且其影响因性别而异。在雌性中，作物消费程度在达到98%渐近体型的年龄上产生了约1.4年的最大差异。此外，骨骼生长速率存在1.5倍的最大差异。另一方面，作物消费并不总是影响雄性的骨骼生长。母亲的作物消费程度在其胎儿的后足长度上产生了约15%的最大差异。这项研究表明，即使在同一种群内，长期作物消费在个体水平上也会对鹿的骨骼生长产生影响。母亲的作物消费从胎儿阶段就对下一代产生“银匙效应”。
