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Title: | When carapace governs size: variation among age classes and individuals in a free-ranging ectotherm with delayed maturity | Authors: | Arsovski, Dragan Tomović, Ljiljana Golubović, Ana Nikolić, Sonja Sterijovski, Bogoljub Ajtić, Rastko Ballouard, Jean Marie Bonnet, Xavier |
Keywords: | Cohorts;Indeterminate growth;Longevity;Tortoise;VBS | Issue Date: | 1-Apr-2018 | Rank: | M21 | Project: | Diversity of the amphibians and reptiles on the Balkan Peninsula: evolutionary and conservation aspects | Journal: | Oecologia | Abstract: | © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Juvenile growth strongly impacts life-history traits during adulthood. Yet, in juveniles with delayed maturity, elusiveness has hindered age-specific studies of growth, precluding any detailed research on its consequences later in life. Different complex growth patterns have been extracted from captive animals, suggesting species-specific trajectories occur in free-ranging animals. How pronounced are growth and body size variation (VBS) throughout a long-lived ectotherm’s life? Is VBS constant among age classes prior to maturity, or do compensatory and/or cumulative effects driven by long-lived-animal-specific strategies create distinct VBS cohorts, to ensure survival? To tackle the issue, we modelled growth data from continuous and dense annual capture–mark–recapture sampling (5096 body measurements of 1134 free-ranging individuals) of both immature and mature, long-lived Hermann’s tortoises. We analysed population, cohort, and individual-based growth and VBS. Growth ring inferred ages were cross validated with annual recaptures in 289 juveniles. Analyses unravelled an S-shaped growth curve and identified three age cohorts across which VBS increases in a step-wise manner. Neonate-specific constraints and compensatory effects seem to control VBS until 4 years of age, possibly promoting survival with size. Subsequently, a hardened carapace takes over and cumulative effects fuelled by faster growth progressively increase VBS. Whereas ungulates are in a hurry to attain adult size before growth ceases (minimizing VBS), indeterminately growing tortoises can shape individual asymptotic sizes even after growth decelerates. Tortoise size is clearly shaped by age-specific ecological constraints; interestingly, it is likely the carapace that conducts the strategy, rather than maturity per se. |
URI: | https://biore.bio.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/182 | ISSN: | 0029-8549 | DOI: | 10.1007/s00442-018-4090-x |
Appears in Collections: | Journal Article |
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