This thesis evaluates how developmental conditions influence settlement, survival, and yearling primiparity in juvenile red squirrels. This was accomplished by comparing the fates of offspring from food supplemented versus non-supplemented mothers, and by using logistic regression to evaluate the effects of body mass, resource availability, and reproductive parameters on juvenile success. Maternal nutrition, previous and present year's cone production, and body mass contributed significantly to settlement and survival during all juvenile life history stages (emergence, settlement, and overwinter survival). Heavier than average juveniles were also more likely to reproduce as yearlings. Nevertheless, natal body mass was not a predictor of recruitment, indicating persistent influence of early developmental conditions on life history fates above and beyond mass effects. A greater impact of resource availability than body size on fitness among red squirrels may reflect this species' reliance on hoarded food rather than body fat for energy reserves.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.99189 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Kerr, Tricia D. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.) |
| Rights | © Tricia D. Kerr, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002571297, proquestno: AAIMR28498, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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