Lucky to be alive, luckier to breed: lifetime reproduction in Weddell seals

Lucky to be alive, luckier to breed: lifetime reproduction in Weddell seals | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 24 June 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Lucky to be alive, luckier to breed: lifetime reproduction in Weddell seals Authors : Alexis Diaz 0000-0003-0749-9580 [email protected] , Jay Rotella , Kaitlin MacDonald , Wenyun Zuo , and Shripad Tuljapurkar 0000-0001-5549-4245 Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175075404.48157099/v1 269 views 171 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract We utilized a long-term study of Weddell seals to compare lifetime reproductive success (LRS) outcomes estimated from a theoretical approach with empirical outcomes. These comparisons are often difficult to achieve among natural populations but are important for disentangling sources of variation in lifetime measures. Theoretical methods yield an LRS distribution that is strikingly similar to the empirical LRS distribution. In both cases, the LRS distribution is highly skewed towards zero. We also evaluate how the distributions of lifespan and LRS are affected by an extreme environmental event, and by differences in unobserved individual quality. Extreme environments increased zero LRS while individual quality had little influence on LRS. Females who persist in extreme environments had decreased probabilities at the LRS tail. Our results show that a few ”lucky” females live to have a high LRS. These findings contribute to ongoing research revealing how diversity in lifetime outcomes are largely governed by chance alone. Supplementary Material File (diaz et al.pdf) Download 1.05 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 24 June 2025 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords extreme environmental event individual heterogeneity integral projection models lifetime distributions lifetime reproductive success matrix population models reproductive inequality weddell seals Authors Affiliations Alexis Diaz 0000-0003-0749-9580 [email protected] Stanford University View all articles by this author Jay Rotella Montana State University View all articles by this author Kaitlin MacDonald Montana State University View all articles by this author Wenyun Zuo Stanford University View all articles by this author Shripad Tuljapurkar 0000-0001-5549-4245 Stanford University View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 269 views 171 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Alexis Diaz, Jay Rotella, Kaitlin MacDonald, et al. Lucky to be alive, luckier to breed: lifetime reproduction in Weddell seals. Authorea . 24 June 2025. 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