| Abstract |
Caring for newborn offspring hampers resource acquisition of mammalian females, curbing their ability to meet the high energy expenditure of early lactation. Newborns are particularly vulnerable, and, among the large herbivores, ungulates have evolved a continuum of neonatal antipredator tactics, ranging from immobile hider (such as roe deer fawns or impala calves) to highly mobile follower offspring (such as reindeer calves or chamois kids). How these tactics constrain female movements around parturition is unknown, particularly within the current context of increasing habitat fragmentation and earlier plant phenology caused by global warming. Here, using a comparative analysis across 54 populations of 23 species of large herbivores from 5 ungulate families (Bovidae, Cervidae, Equidae, Antilocapridae and Giraffidae), we show that mothers adjust their movements to variation in resource productivity and heterogeneity according to their offspring’s neonatal tactic. Mothers with hider offspring are unable to exploit environments where the variability of resources occurs at a broad scale, which might alter resource allocation compared with mothers with follower offspring. Our findings reveal that the overlooked neonatal tactic plays a key role for predicting how species are coping with environmental variation. |
| Authors |
Kamal Atmeh  , Christophe Bonenfant , Jean‐Michel Gaillard , Mathieu Garel , A. J. Mark Hewison , Pascal Marchand , Nicolas Morellet , Pia Anderwald , Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar , Jeffrey L. Beck  , Matthew S. Becker , Floris M. van Beest , Jodi Berg , Ulrika A. Bergvall , Randall B. Boone , Mark S. Boyce , Simon Chamaillé‐Jammes , Yannick Chaval , Buyanaa Chimeddorj , David Christianson , Simone Ciuti , Steeve D. Côté , Duane R. Diefenbach , Egil Dröge , Du Toit , Samantha P. H. Dwinnell , Julian Fennessy , Flurin Filli , Daniel Fortin , Emma E. Hart , Matthew Hayes , Mark Hebblewhite , Morten Heim , Ivar Herfindal , Marco Heurich , Christian von Hoermann , Katey S. Huggler , Craig R. Jackson , Andrew F. Jakes , Paul F. Jones , Petra Kaczensky , Matthew J. Kauffman , Petter Kjellander , Tayler N. LaSharr , Leif Egil Loe , Roel May , Philip D. McLoughlin , Erling L. Meisingset , Evelyn H. Merrill , Kevin L. Monteith , Thomas Mueller , Atle Mysterud , Nandintsetseg Dejid , Kirk A. Olson , John C. Payne , Scott F. Pearson , Åshild Ønvik Pedersen , Dustin H. Ranglack , Adele K. Reinking , Thomas Rempfler , Clifford G. Rice , Eivin Røskaft , Bernt‐Erik Sæther , Sonia Saı̈d , Hugo Santacreu , Niels Martin Schmidt , Daan Smit , Jared A. Stabach , Martin‐Hugues St‐Laurent , Joëlle Taillon , W. David Walter , Kevin White , Guillaume Péron , Anne Loison
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