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Aging and improving reproductive success in horses: declining residual reproductive value or just older and wiser?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 07:50 authored by Elissa Cameron, Linklater, WL, Stafford, KJ, Minot, EO
In many mammalian species, female success in raising offspring improves as they age. The residual reproductive value hypothesis predicts that each individ- ual offspring will be more valuable to the mother as she ages because there is less conflict between the current and potential future offspring. Therefore, as mothers age, their investment into individual offspring should in- crease. Empirical evidence for an influence of declining residual reproductive value on maternal investment is unconvincing. Older mothers may not invest more, but may be more successful due to greater experience, al- lowing them to target their investment more appropriate- ly (targeted reproductive effort hypothesis). Most studies do not preclude either hypothesis. Mare age significantly influenced maternal investment in feral horses living on the North Island of New Zealand. Older mares, that were more successful at raising foals, were more protective for the first 20 days of life, but less diligent thereafter. Total maternal input by older mothers did not seem to be any greater, but was better targeted at the most critical period for foal survival and a similar pattern was ob- served in mares that had lost a foal in the previous year. In addition, older mothers were more likely to foal in consecutive years, supporting the hypothesis that they are investing less than younger mares in individual off- spring. Therefore, older mothers seem to become more successful by targeting their investment better due to ex- perience, not by investing more in their offspring.

History

Publication title

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Volume

47

Issue

4

Pagination

243-249

ISSN

0340-5443

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Springer-Verlag

Place of publication

175 Fifth Ave, New York, USA, Ny, 10010

Rights statement

Copyright © Springer-Verlag 2000 The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.com

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other environmental management not elsewhere classified

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