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BODY-MASS, STRUCTURAL SIZE, AND LIFE-HISTORY PATTERNS OF THE COLUMBIAN GROUND-SQUIRREL


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dc.contributorDobson F. Stephen, dobsofs@auburn.eduen_US
dc.creatorDobson, Stephen
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-29T16:29:40Z
dc.date.available2022-07-29T16:29:40Z
dc.date.created1992
dc.identifier10.1086/285405en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/285405en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://aurora.auburn.edu/handle/11200/50319
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.35099/aurora-387
dc.description.abstractColumbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus) exhibit an elevational cline in several life-history traits and in body mass. Body mass is a trait that might interact with the elevational changes in life histories, but it could reflect either or both of two underlying factors: structural size and physiological condition. I studied these factors in several populations of ground squirrels. Structural size was estimated from first principal component scores in an analysis of postcranial bone lengths. Physiological condition was inferred from differences in body mass that were independent of structural size. Field body mass and structural size of yearlings decreased with increasing elevation, which indicates slower growth at higher elevations. For adults, physiological condition was not measured directly, but evidence suggested that it was reflected by changes in body mass: body mass declined with increasing elevation but structural size did not, residuals of body mass on structural size showed the same patterns of change as body mass, most of the variation in body mass was orthogonal to a general size factor in principal components analyses, and significant changes in body mass of individuals could be stimulated by experimental supplementation of food. Life-history traits and physiological condition covaried along the elevational cline and were phenotypically plastic, but the structural size of adult ground squirrels was not an extremely plastic trait.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Chicago Pressen_US
dc.relation.ispartofAMERICAN NATURALISTen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries0003-0147en_US
dc.rights©The Authors 1992. ©University of Chicago Press 1992. This is this the version of record published by the University of Chicago Press. It is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Item should be cited as: Dobson, F. Stephen. "Body mass, structural size, and life-history patterns of the Columbian ground squirrel." The American Naturalist 140, no. 1 (1992): 109-125.en_US
dc.titleBODY-MASS, STRUCTURAL SIZE, AND LIFE-HISTORY PATTERNS OF THE COLUMBIAN GROUND-SQUIRRELen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreJournal Article, Academic Journalen_US
dc.citation.volume140en_US
dc.citation.issue1en_US
dc.citation.spage109en_US
dc.citation.epage125en_US
dc.description.statusPublisheden_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US
dc.creator.orcid0000-0001-5562-6316en_US

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