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The significance of hotspots to lekking topi antelopes (Damaliscus lunatus)

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An Erratum to this article was published on 09 December 2016

Abstract

Controversy has surrounded the question of why lek-breeding has evolved in certain ungulate species. Can the behavior be explained simply by males mapping onto a female distribution that is determined by factors unrelated to mating? Or are leks created because estrous females distinguish between males and favor males who cluster? Here I address these questions by looking at spatial distribution in lekking topi antelopes (Damaliscus lunatus). Contrary to the predictions of a model assuming male clustering in the zone of maximum female range overlap, territories were highly clustered also within this zone, and lek size correlated positively with population density. In support of models derived from the ideal free distribution of males onto female dispersion, leks were in areas with high female density during the rut. However, models not taking into account both individual variation in male quality and female mate preferences failed to explain the extreme male clumping also within high density areas, which was revealed by a strongly male-biased sex-ratio on leks. Additional support for the female preference-based model came from the finding that estrous females concentrated onto leks. Female preference for clustered males may develop if males initially follow an ideal free distribution of unequal competitors with high quality males slightly clustered at density hotspots; positive feedback between female benefits of preference for clustered males and male benefits of clustering could lead to contraction of the territorial network and lek behavior. Thus only the female preference-based model correctly predicted a negative correlation between male mating rate and resource density.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to S.M. Durant, L.M. Gosling, A. Pomiankowski, G. Cowlishaw, W.J. Sutherland, I.F. Owens, C. Roberts, M. Petrie, M. Rowcliffe, T.M. Jones and the anonymous referees for their advice and comments, to M. Borner and S. Cleaveland for their help in locating leks in Serengeti NP, to P. Duncan for providing data from an aerial topi census there, to the Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing in Nairobi for access to topi surveys from Masai Mara National Reserve, and to the Masai Mara Ecological Monitoring Program and the Masai Mara Hyena Project (K. Holekamp) for providing data on rainfall. For permissions to do field work, I thank the Office of the President, Narok County Council and Kenya Wildlife Service in Kenya, COSTECH and TAWIRI in Tanzania, and the chief park wardens of Masai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park. Funding was provided by the Danish Research Agency with additional support from the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Ottilie Brorson's Travel Fund, and British Airways.

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  1. Jakob Bro-Jørgensen

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Stirling, UK, e-mail: jb24@stir.ac.uk, Tel.: +44-1786-467812, Fax +44-1786-464994

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  1. Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK

    Jakob Bro-Jørgensen

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Communicated by C. Nunn

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2249-1.

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Bro-Jørgensen, J. The significance of hotspots to lekking topi antelopes (Damaliscus lunatus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 53, 324–331 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-002-0573-0

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