Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range
Abstract Identification of phenotypic characteristics in reproductively successful individuals provides important insights into the evolutionary processes that cause range shifts due to environmental change. Female beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Baffin Bay region (BB) of the Canadian...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8367 |
| _version_ | 1798016482873966592 |
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| author | Steven H. Ferguson David J. Yurkowski Justine M. Hudson Tera Edkins Cornelia Willing Cortney A. Watt |
| author_facet | Steven H. Ferguson David J. Yurkowski Justine M. Hudson Tera Edkins Cornelia Willing Cortney A. Watt |
| author_sort | Steven H. Ferguson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Identification of phenotypic characteristics in reproductively successful individuals provides important insights into the evolutionary processes that cause range shifts due to environmental change. Female beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Baffin Bay region (BB) of the Canadian Arctic in the core area of the species’ geographic range have larger body size than their conspecifics at the southern range periphery in Hudson Bay (HB). We investigated the mechanism for this north and south divergence as it relates to ovarian reproductive activity (ORA = total corpora) that combines morphometric data with ovarian corpora counted from female reproductive tracts. Our study aim was to assess the relative influence of age and body size of female beluga whale on ORA in the two populations. Female beluga whale ORA increased more quickly with age (63% partial variation explained) in BB than in HB (41%). In contrast, body length in HB female beluga whales accounted for considerably more of the total variation (12% vs. 1%) in ORA compared to BB whales. We speculate that female HB beluga whale ORA was more strongly linked with body length due to higher population density resulting in food competition that favors the energetic advantages of larger body size during seasonal food limitations. Understanding the evolutionary mechanism of how ORA varies across a species’ range will assist conservation efforts in anticipating and mitigating future challenges associated with a warming planet. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:51:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-60f2f76c9f784ec583e8aed89448fc06 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:51:17Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-60f2f76c9f784ec583e8aed89448fc062022-12-22T04:15:17ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-12-011123173141732210.1002/ece3.8367Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their rangeSteven H. Ferguson0David J. Yurkowski1Justine M. Hudson2Tera Edkins3Cornelia Willing4Cortney A. Watt5Fisheries and Oceans Canada Freshwater Institute Winnipeg Manitoba CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada Freshwater Institute Winnipeg Manitoba CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada Freshwater Institute Winnipeg Manitoba CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada Freshwater Institute Winnipeg Manitoba CanadaBiological Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg Manitoba CanadaFisheries and Oceans Canada Freshwater Institute Winnipeg Manitoba CanadaAbstract Identification of phenotypic characteristics in reproductively successful individuals provides important insights into the evolutionary processes that cause range shifts due to environmental change. Female beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Baffin Bay region (BB) of the Canadian Arctic in the core area of the species’ geographic range have larger body size than their conspecifics at the southern range periphery in Hudson Bay (HB). We investigated the mechanism for this north and south divergence as it relates to ovarian reproductive activity (ORA = total corpora) that combines morphometric data with ovarian corpora counted from female reproductive tracts. Our study aim was to assess the relative influence of age and body size of female beluga whale on ORA in the two populations. Female beluga whale ORA increased more quickly with age (63% partial variation explained) in BB than in HB (41%). In contrast, body length in HB female beluga whales accounted for considerably more of the total variation (12% vs. 1%) in ORA compared to BB whales. We speculate that female HB beluga whale ORA was more strongly linked with body length due to higher population density resulting in food competition that favors the energetic advantages of larger body size during seasonal food limitations. Understanding the evolutionary mechanism of how ORA varies across a species’ range will assist conservation efforts in anticipating and mitigating future challenges associated with a warming planet.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8367agebody lengthDelphinapterus leucasfitnessgeographic rangeovarian corpora |
| spellingShingle | Steven H. Ferguson David J. Yurkowski Justine M. Hudson Tera Edkins Cornelia Willing Cortney A. Watt Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range Ecology and Evolution age body length Delphinapterus leucas fitness geographic range ovarian corpora |
| title | Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range |
| title_full | Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range |
| title_fullStr | Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range |
| title_full_unstemmed | Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range |
| title_short | Larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range |
| title_sort | larger body size leads to greater female beluga whale ovarian reproductive activity at the southern periphery of their range |
| topic | age body length Delphinapterus leucas fitness geographic range ovarian corpora |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8367 |
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