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Metabolic cost of first reproduction in young female European roe deerCapreolus capreolus

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Abstract

In female roe deerCapreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758), like in several deer species, first reproduction occurs before they have reached their full body size. This study quantifies, in young females, the energetic costs induced by the contemporaneously occurring events: growth and first reproduction. Resting metabolic rate and body mass were measured in young primiparous females from first mating to 4 months after parturition, and compared to values measured in fully-grown adult multiparous females. Throughout the 10-month period from mating to fawning, body mass increased in yearlings. Prior to the blastocyst implantation (month −5 before parturition) young females were lighter than adult females whereas after parturition they had the same body mass. Our results suggest that body growth was reinitiated during pregnancy in primiparous females. From mating to fawning, except in the first part of pregnancy, mass-specific metabolism was higher in primiparous females than in multiparous individuals indicating the occurrence of an additional cost due to growth in young females. The depressed level observed at the beginning of gestation could allow the resumption of growth at lower cost. Thus, the allocation of resources to both reproduction and growth was not detrimental to first reproduction in young female roe deer under experimental conditions withad lib feeding.

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Author notes

  1. Christiane Mauget

    Present address: FR3-CNRS/MNHN, USM305 “Conservation des Espčces, Restauration et Suivi des Populations”, Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé-CNRS, 79360, Villiers en Bois, France

    Christiane Mauget & Antoine Sempéré

  2. FR3-CNRS/MNHN, USM305 “Conservation des Espčces, Restauration et Suivi des Populations”, Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

    Robert Mauget

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  1. Christiane Mauget
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Associate Editor was Bogumięa Jêdrzejewska.

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Mauget, C., Mauget, R. & Sempéré, A. Metabolic cost of first reproduction in young female European roe deerCapreolus capreolus . Acta Theriol 48, 197–206 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03194159

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03194159

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