Marmot Biology: Sociality, Individual Fitness, and Population Dynamics

Description

Focusing on the physiological and behavioral factors that enable a species to live in a harsh seasonal environment, this book places the social biology of marmots in an environmental context. It draws on the results of a forty-year empirical study of the population biology of the yellow-bellied marmot near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in the Upper East River Valley in Colorado, USA. The text examines life-history features such as body-size, habitat use, environmental physiology, social dynamics, and kinship. Considerable new data analyses are integrated with material published over a fifty-year period, including extensive natural history observations, providing an essential foundation for integrating social and population processes. Finally, the results of research into the yellow-bellied marmot are related to major ecological and evolutionary theories, especially inclusive fitness and population regulation, making this a valuable resource for students and researchers in animal behavior, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation. Introduction -- Part I. The diversity and evolutionary history of marmots. 1. Marmots in human culture : from folklore to research 2. Marmots : their history and diversity 3. Marmot habitats 4. Use of resources 5. Evolution of sociality 6. Body-mass variation 7. Hibernation energetics and the circannual rhythm -- Part II. Biotic and abiotic environments. 8. The environment of the yellow-bellied marmot 9. Environmental physiology -- Part III. Social structure and behavior of the yellow-bellied marmot. 10. The role of kinship : resource sharing 11. The role of kinship : social behavior and matriline dynamics 12. Social behavior : play and individuality 13. Social behavior : communication 14. Alarm responses of the yellow-bellied marmot -- Part IV. Reproductive success. 15. Male reproductive success 16. Female reproductive success -- Part V. Population dynamics. 17. Basic demography 18. Dispersal and immigration 19. Metapopulation dynamics 20. Population regulation or population limitation -- Part VI. The future of marmots. 21. Climate change and conservation 22. Major life-history traits.