Variation in mating system and group structure in two populations of swift foxes, Vulpes velox

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Kamler, Jan F. Ballard, Warren B. Lemons, Patrick R. Mote, Kevin
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	We studied 26 reproductive groups of swift foxes, Vulpes velox, from both high- and low-density areas during three field seasons in northwestern Texas, U.S.A., to examine whether differences in population density affect mating system and group structure. Although high- and low-density populations were only separated by 40 km and vegetation and diets were similar between sites, polygynous groups, communal denning and nonbreeding females occurred in the area of high density, whereas only monogamous pairs occurred in the area of low density. Annual survival of adult swift foxes was 66% in the area of high density, but 44% in the area of low density. Predation from coyotes, Canis latrans, was the only mortality factor that differed (P ¼ 0:01) between sites and contributed most to differences in survival. Although previous research indicated that variation in social systems among canids is related to bottomeup forces (i.e. food, habitat), the results of our study indicate that variation in social systems can also be related to topedown forces (i.e. predation, displacement by larger competitor).
Starting Page	83
Ending Page	88
Page Count	6
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
DOI	10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.07.017
Volume Number	68
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/pii/S0003347204001228
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347204001228?dgcid=api_sd_search-api-endpoint
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://web.mnstate.edu/stockram/sdarticle%20swift%20fox%20mating%20systems.pdf
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.07.017
Journal	Animal Behaviour
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article