Fluctuating food resources influence developmental plasticity in wild boar

Biol Lett. 2013 Jul 31;9(5):20130419. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0419. Print 2013 Oct 23.

Abstract

To maximize long-term average reproductive success, individuals can diversify the phenotypes of offspring produced within a reproductive event by displaying the 'coin-flipping' tactic. Wild boar (Sus scrofa scrofa) females have been reported to adopt this tactic. However, whether the magnitude of developmental plasticity within a litter depends on stochasticity in food resources has not been yet investigated. From long-term monitoring, we found that juvenile females produced similar-sized fetuses within a litter independent of food availability. By contrast, adult females adjusted their relative allocation to littermates to the amount of food resources, by providing a similar allocation to all littermates in years of poor food resources but producing highly diversified offspring phenotypes within a litter in years of abundant food resources. By minimizing sibling rivalry, such a plastic reproductive tactic allows adult wild boar females to maximize the number of littermates for a given breeding event.

Keywords: coin-flipping; fetus mass; food resources; mast production; variable environment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Wild*
  • Female
  • Food Supply*
  • Litter Size*
  • Stochastic Processes
  • Swine / physiology*