A multi-metric approach to investigate the effects of weather conditions on the demographic of a terrestrial mammal, the european badger (Meles meles)

Models capturing the full effects of weather conditions on animal populations are scarce. Here we decompose yearly temperature and rainfall into mean trends, yearly amplitude of change and residual variation, using daily records. We establish from multi-model inference procedures, based on 1125 life...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-07, Vol.8 (7), p.e68116
Main Authors: Nouvellet, Pierre, Newman, Chris, Buesching, Christina D, Macdonald, David W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Analysis
Animal behavior
Animal populations
Animals
Badgers
Biology
Climate Change
Climate models
Climate trends
Climatic conditions
Conservation
Demographics
Demography
Ecology
Evolution
Investigations
Juveniles
Life history
Mammals - physiology
Meles meles
Mustelidae - physiology
Physiology
Population
Population Dynamics
Precipitation
Precipitation variability
Rain
Rainfall
Recruitment
Routines
Studies
Survival
Survival Rate
Temperature
Temperature tolerance
Terrestrial environments
Trends
Variability
Weather
Weather conditions
Weather effects
Wildlife conservation
Zoology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Models capturing the full effects of weather conditions on animal populations are scarce. Here we decompose yearly temperature and rainfall into mean trends, yearly amplitude of change and residual variation, using daily records. We establish from multi-model inference procedures, based on 1125 life histories (from 1987 to 2008), that European badger (Meles meles) annual mortality and recruitment rates respond to changes in mean trends and to variability in proximate weather components. Variation in mean rainfall was by far the most influential predictor in our analysis. Juvenile survival and recruitment rates were highest at intermediate levels of mean rainfall, whereas low adult survival rates were associated with only the driest, and not the wettest, years. Both juvenile and adult survival rates also exhibited a range of tolerance for residual standard deviation around daily predicted temperature values, beyond which survival rates declined. Life-history parameters, annual routines and adaptive behavioural responses, which define the badgers' climatic niche, thus appear to be predicated upon a bounded range of climatic conditions, which support optimal survival and recruitment dynamics. That variability in weather conditions is influential, in combination with mean climatic trends, on the vital rates of a generalist, wide ranging and K-selected medium-sized carnivore, has major implications for evolutionary ecology and conservation.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0068116