Age-specific fecundity of the Beverly herd of barren-ground caribou

  • Donald C. Thomas Canadian Wildlife Service, 4999 - 98 Avenue, Room 210, Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2X3, Canada
  • Samuel J. Barry Canadian Wildlife Service, 4999 - 98 Avenue, Room 210, Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2X3, Canada
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7557/2.10.3.867
Keywords: age, calf production, Rangifer, reproduction, caribou, Beverly herd

Abstract

The age-specific fecundity of the Beverly herd of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) was monitored each winter from 1979-80 through 1986-87. Fecundity in 840 females increased with age from 12% in yearlings to 86% at age 5 years and it did not decline in old (> 11 yr) females. Significant variations occurred among winters and even between two subherds in one winter. Reproductive abnormalities were detected in 2 of 840 females and a probable resorption in 1 of 420 females collected in March. Only about 5% of the fetuses were conceived late, possibly by repeat ovulators. Combining survival and fecundity data yielded age-specific calf production, which indicated that, for example, 54% of calves were born to females 3-6 years old.
Published
1990-09-01
How to Cite
ThomasD. C., & BarryS. J. (1990). Age-specific fecundity of the Beverly herd of barren-ground caribou. Rangifer, 10(3), 257-263. https://doi.org/10.7557/2.10.3.867
Issue
Vol 10 (1990): Special Issue No. 3
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2015 Donald C. Thomas, Samuel J. Barry

Authors retain copyright and grant Rangifer irrevocable and non-exclusive right of publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). This means, among other things, that anyone is free to copy and distribute the content, as long as they give proper credit to the author(s) and the journal. For further information, see Creative Commons website for human readable or lawyer readable versions.