Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influence of maternal food availability on offspring dispersal

  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prenatal effects caused by the maternal environment during gestation are known to contribute to the phenotype of the offspring. Whether they have some adaptive value is currently under debate. We experimentally tested the existence of such a maternal effect (food availability during gestation) on dispersal of offspring in the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara). Pregnant females were captured and kept in the laboratory until parturition. During this period, females were offered two rates of food delivery. After parturition, we released mothers and offspring at the mother's capture point. Dispersal of young was significantly affected by the mother's nutrition. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of a prenatal effect on dispersal. Offspring of well fed mothers dispersed at a higher rate than those of less well fed mothers. As current hypotheses clearly predict the opposite result, our evidence calls for their reassessment. Dispersers are not always the least fit individuals or those coming from the poorest environments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson PK (1989) Dispersal in rodents: a resident fitness hypothesis (Special publication no. 9). American Society of Mammalogists, Provo

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauwens D, Thoen C (1981) Escape tactics and vulnerability to predation associated with reproduction in the lizard Lacerta vivipara. J Anim Ecol 50:733–743

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Begon M, Harper JL, Townsend CR (1990) Ecology: individuals, populations and communities, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernado J (1991) Manipulating egg size to study maternal effects on offspring traits. TREE 6:1–2

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandt CA (1992) Social factors in immigration and emigration. In: Stenseth NC, Lidicker WZ Jr (eds) Animal dispersal: small mammals as a model. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 96–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Brody MS, Lawlor LR (1984) Adaptive variation in offspring size in the terrestrial isopod Armadillium vulgare. Oecologia 61: 55–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Clobert J, Perrins CM, McCleery RH, Gosler AG (1988) Survival rate in the great tit Parus major in relation to sex, age, and immigration status. J Anim Ecol 57:287–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Clobert J, Massot M, Lecomte J, Sorci G, de Fraipont M, Barbault R (1994) Determinants of dispersal behavior: the common lizard as a case study. In: Vitt L, Pianka R (eds) Lizard ecology: historical and experimental perspectives. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 183–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhondt AA, Hublé J (1968) Fledging-date and sex in relation to dispersal in young great tits. Bird study 15:127–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson FS (1982) Competition for mates and predominant juvenile male dispersal in mammals. Anim Behav 30:1183–1192

    Google Scholar 

  • Efron B (1982) The jackknife, the bootstrap and other resampling plans. SIAM, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer DS (1989) Introduction to quantitative genetics, 3rd edn. Longman Scientific and Technical, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer M (1993) Ontogeny of dispersal distances in young Spanish imperial eagles. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 32:259–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood PJ (1980) Mating systems, philopatry, and dispersal in birds and mammals. Anim Behav 28:1140–1162

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanski I, Peltonen A, Kaski L (1991) Natal dispersal and social dominance in the common shrew Sorex araneus. Oikos 62: 48–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrenkohl LR (1979) Prenatal stress reduces fertility and fecundity in female offspring. Science 206:1097–1099

    Google Scholar 

  • Heulin B (1984) Contribution a l'étude de la biologic des populations de Lacerta vivipara: strategic démographique et utilisation de l'espace dans une population du massif forestier de Paimpont. Ph.D. thesis, University of Rennes I

  • Horn HS (1983) Some theories about dispersal. In: Swingland IR, Greenwood PJ (eds) The ecology of animal movement. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 54–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Ims RA (1990) Determinants of natal dispersal and space use in grey-sided voles, Clethrionomys rufocanus: a combined field and laboratory experiment. Oikos 57:106–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson ML, Gaines MS (1990) Evolution of dispersal: theoretical models and empirical tests using birds and mammals. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 21:449–480

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan RH (1992) Greater maternal investment can decrease offspring survival in the frog Bombina orientalis. Ecology 73: 280–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick M, Lande R (1989) The evolution of maternal characters. Evolution 43:485–503

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs CJ (1992) The role of dispersal in cyclic rodent populations. In: Stenseth NC, Lidicker WZ Jr (eds) Animal dispersal: small mammals as a model. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 160–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Lecomte J, Clobert J, Massot M (1992) Sex identification in juveniles of Lacerta vivipara. Amphibia Reptilia 13:21–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Lidicker WZ Jr (1975) The role of dispersal in the demography of small mammals. In: Golley FB, Petrusewicz K, Ryszkowski L (eds) Small mammals: their production and population dynamics. Cambridge University Press, London, pp 103–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Lidicker WZ Jr, Stenseth NC (1992) To disperse or not to disperse: who does it and why? In: Stenseth NC, Lidicker WZ Jr (eds) Animal dispersal: small mammals as a model. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 21–36

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald DW, Smith H (1990) Dispersal, dispersion and conservation in the agricultural ecosystem. In: Bunce RGH, Howard DC (eds) Species dispersal in agricultural habitats. Belhaven Press, London, pp 18–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Massot M (1992a) Movement patterns of the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) in relation to sex and age. In: Korsos Z, Kiss I (eds) Proc Sixth Ord Gen Meet SEH, Budapest 1991, pp 315–319

  • Massot M (1992b) Déterminisme de la dispersion chez le lézard vivipare. Ph.D. thesis, University of Paris XI

  • Massot M, Clobert J, Pilorge T, Lecomte J, Barbault R (1992) Density dependence in the common lizard: demographic consequences of a density manipulation. Ecology 73:1742–1756

    Google Scholar 

  • Massot M, Clobert J, Chambon A, Michalakis Y (1994a) Vertebrate natal dispersal: the problem of non independence of siblings. Oikos 70:172–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Massot M, Clobert J, Lecomte J, Barbault R (1994b) Incumbent advantage in common lizards and their colonizing ability. J Anim Ecol 63:431–440

    Google Scholar 

  • McCleery RH, Clobert J (1990) Differences in recruitment of young by immigrant and resident great tits in Wytham wood. In: Blondel J, Gosler AG, Lebreton J-D, McCleery RH (eds) Population studies of passerine birds: an integrated approach. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 423–440

    Google Scholar 

  • McShea WJ (1990) Social tolerance and proximate mechanisms of dispersal among winter groups of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Anim Behav 39:346–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris DW (1982) Age-specific dispersal strategies in iteroparous species: who leaves when? Evol Theory 6:53–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray BG (1967) Dispersal in vertebrates. Ecology 48:975–978

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman RA (1988) Genetic variation for larval anuran (Scaphiopus couchii) development time in an uncertain environment. Evolution 42:763–773

    Google Scholar 

  • Norusis MJ (1986) Advanced statistics SPSS/PC+ for the IBM PC/XT/AT. SPSS, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Part (1990) Natal dispersal in the collared flycatcher: possible causes and reproductive consequences. Ornis Scand 21:83–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters RH (1983) The ecological implications of body size. Cambridge University Press

  • Pilorge T (1987) Density, size structure, and reproductive characteristics of three populations of Lacerta vivipara (Sauria: Lacertidea). Herpetologica 43:345–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Rau ME (1985) The effects of Trichinella spiralis infection of pregnant mice on the future behavior of their offspring. J Parasitol 71:774–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Schluter D, Gustafsson L (1993) Maternal inheritance of condition and clutch size in the collared flycatcher. Evolution 47:658–667

    Google Scholar 

  • Shields WM (1987) Dispersal and mating systems: investigating their causal connections. In: Chepko-Sade BD, Halpin ZT (eds) Mammalian dispersal patterns: the effects of social structure on population genetics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 3–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorci G, Massot M, Clobert J (1994) Maternal parasite load increases sprint speed and philopatry in female offspring of the common lizard. Am Nat 144:153–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Stenseth NC (1983) Causes and consequences of dispersal in small mammals. In: Swingland IR, Greenwood PJ (eds) The ecology of animal movement. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 63–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Stenseth NC, Lidicker WZ Jr (1992) The study of dispersal: a conceptual guide. In: Stenseth NC, Lidicker WZ Jr (eds) Animal dispersal: small mammals as a model. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 5–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Swingland IR (1983) Intraspecific differences in movement. In: Swingland IR, Greenwood PJ (eds) The ecology of animal movement. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 102–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Vom Saal FS (1984) The intrauterine position phenomenon: effect on physiology, aggressive behavior and population dynamics in male house mice. In: Flannely R, Blanchard R, Blanchard D (eds) Biological perspectives on aggression. Allan Riss, pp 135–179

  • Waser PM (1985) Does competition drive dispersal? Ecology 66:1171–1175

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff JO (1994) What is the role of adults in mammalian juvenile dispersal? Oikos 68:173–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong KL, Bondrup-Nielsen S (1993) Long term effects of infant malnutrition on the behaviour of adult meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus. Can J Zool 70:1304–1308

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut d'Ecologie, CNRS - URA 258, Université de Paris VI, Bâtiment A, 7 quai Saint Bernard, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France

    M. Massot & J. Clobert

Authors
  1. M. Massot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Clobert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by F. Trillmich

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Massot, M., Clobert, J. Influence of maternal food availability on offspring dispersal. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 37, 413–418 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00170589

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00170589

Key words

Search

Navigation