Marmot Biology: Sociality, Individual Fitness, and Population Dynamics

438 Pages·2016·14.898 MB·English

by  Armitage, Kenneth B

Marmot Biology
Sociality,IndividualFitness,andPopulationDynamics
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 40-year empirical study of the
population biology of the yellow-bellied marmot near the Rocky Mountain Biological
LaboratoryintheUpperEastRiverValleyinColorado,USA.
The text examines life-history features such as body-size, habitat use, environmental
physiology,socialdynamics,andkinship.Considerablenewdataanalysesareintegrated
withmaterialpublishedovera50-yearperiod,includingextensivenaturalhistoryobser-
vations,providinganessentialfoundationforintegratingsocialandpopulationprocesses.
Finally, the results of research into the yellow-bellied marmot are related to major eco-
logical and evolutionary theories, especially inclusive fitness and population regulation,
makingthisavaluableresourceforstudentsandresearchersinanimalbehavior,behavioral
ecology,evolutionarybiology,ecology,andconservation.Colorversionsofmanyofthe
figuresareavailablefordownloadatwww.cambridge.org/9781107053946.
Kenneth B.ArmitageisBaumgartnerDistinguishedProfessorEmeritusofEcologyand
Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. His 40-year research project on the
yellow-belliedmarmotintheUpperEastRiverValley,Colorado,isthesecondlongest
continuousstudyofamammal.HeisanelectedFellowoftheAnimalBehaviorSociety
andtheAmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScienceandanHonoraryMember
of the American Society of Mammalogists for “distinguished service to the science of
mammalogy.”

Marmot Biology
Sociality, Individual Fitness,
and Population Dynamics
KENNETH B. ARMITAGE
UniversityofKansas,Lawrence,USA
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107053946
©K.B.Armitage2014
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongresscataloginginPublicationdata
Armitage,KennethB.,1925–
Marmotbiology:sociality,individualfitnessandpopulation
dynamics/KennethB.Armitage.
pages cm
ISBN978-1-107-05394-6(hardback)
1. Marmots. I. Title.
QL737.R68A757 2014
599.36ʹ6–dc23
2013046725
ISBN978-1-107-05394-6Hardback
Additionalresourcesforthispublicationatwww.cambridge.org/9781107053946
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
TomywifeKatieandallthose(spouse)whocontributedtoourdirectfitness:
Karole;Keith(Maria),Emeline,Julia,andSophie;Kevin(Helen)andRita.

Contents
Introduction page1
Anoverviewofthebook’scontent 2
Acknowledgments 3
PartI Thediversityandevolutionaryhistoryofmarmots 5
1 Marmotsinhumanculture:fromfolkloretoresearch 7
Marmotsandmythology 9
Culturaluseofmarmots 11
Groundhogday 15
Marmotsandresearch 17
2 Marmots:theirhistoryanddiversity 25
Evolutionofmarmots 28
Marmotphylogeny 32
Bodysize 33
Furcolordiversity 36
3 Marmothabitats 42
Distributionpatterns 42
Habitatuse 43
Environmentalharshness 51
Summary 56
4 Useofresources 57
Burrows 57
Foragingandfoodchoice 65
Foodselectivity 67
Foodchoice:seasonalpatterns 71
Foodchoiceandplantsecondarycompounds 72
Foodchoiceandnutrition 72
Foodchoiceandpolyunsaturatedfattyacids(PUFAs) 75
viii Contents
Foodchoiceandpatchuse 76
Foragingandmodificationofplantcommunities 77
Foragingandtimebudgets 79
Homerange 80
Homerangevariationinyellow-belliedmarmots 81
Resourcecompetition 83
Summary 83
5 Evolutionofsociality 84
Copingwithwinter 84
Ageofmaturity 85
Socialsystems 86
Socialsystemsversusmatingsystems 94
Summary 96
6 Body-massvariation 97
Bodymass 97
Ratesofmassgain 97
Body-massvariationamongspecies 101
Bodymassandsurvivalofyoung 103
7 Hibernationenergeticsandthecircannualrhythm 105
Hibernation 105
Thecircannualrhythm 107
Hibernation:energysavings 110
Mechanismsofenergyconservation 113
Energysavings:socialthermoregulation 114
Shrunkendigestivetract 115
Summary 115
PartII Bioticandabioticenvironments 117
8 Theenvironmentoftheyellow-belliedmarmot 119
Researchsites 119
Effectsofweather 125
9 Environmentalphysiology 130
Restingandfieldmetabolicrates 130
Temperatureacclimation 133
Waterbudgets 134
Dailyactivitycycle 135