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Why does it benefit some male and female animals to live separately?
Sexual segregation, wherein the sexes of a species live apart for long periods of time, has far-reaching consequences for the ecology, behaviour, and conservation of hooved mammals, which are called ungulates. Award-winning researcher R. Terry Bowyer has spent the past four decades unravelling the causes and consequences of this perplexing phenomenon by studying ungulates and the large carnivores that prey upon them.
In Sexual Segregation in Ungulates, Bowyer's critical, thought-provoking approach helps resolve long-standing disagreements concerning sexual segregation and offers future pathways for species and habitat conservation. He highlights important elements of the natural history of wild ungulate species, including bighorn sheep and elk. He then uses this perspective to frame and test hypotheses illuminating the motivations behind sexual segregation. He investigates the role of sexual segregation in mechanisms underpinning ungulate mating systems, sexual dimorphism, paternal behaviour, and population dynamics.
Bowyer's research spans ecosystems from deserts to the Arctic and involves most species of ungulates inhabiting the North American continent. He also provides a timely review of sexual segregation for species of plants and other animals, including humans. Covering definitions, theory, findings, and practical applications of related study, Bowyer describes the behavioural patterns related to sexual segregation, explains how to detect these patterns, and considers the implications of sexual segregation for new approaches to conservation and management of ungulates and other species of wildlife.
Sexual Segregation in Ungulates is essential reading for scientists and all those interested in the conservation and management of species, including wildlife professionals, hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, and naturalists.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview
- Historical Perspectives
- Ungulate Characteristics and Relevant Aspects of Their Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation
- Mating Systems
- Predator Pits, Apparent Competition, and Territorial Regulation of Populations
- Sexual Segregation in Plants and Animals
Chapter 2. Differences between the Sexes
- Definitions of Sexual Segregation
- Sexual Differences in Morphology, Physiology, and Foraging Behavior
- Sexual Dimorphism
- The Role of Resources and Predation Risk in Gregariousness
Chapter 3. Temporospatial Patterns
- Defining Social Groups
- Temporal Patterns of Sexual Segregation and Aggregation
- Spatial Patterns of Sexual Segregation
Chapter 4. Detection and Measurement
- Detecting Sexual Segregation
- Measuring Sexual Segregation
- Effects of Scale
Chapter 5. Failed Concepts
- Setting Aside Rejected Hypotheses
- Social Hypotheses
- Ecological Hypotheses
- Limiting Overutilization of Habitats
Chapter 6. The Role of Social Behavior
- Social Aggression and Sexual Affinities
- Activity Patterns
- The Social-Constraints Hypothesis
Chapter 7. Ecological Aspects of Sexual Segregation
- Competition Hypothesis
- Gastrocentric Hypothesis
- Niche-Partitioning Hypothesis
- Predation-Risk Hypothesis
- Multiple Causations and Tradeoffs
Chapter 8. Consequences of Sexual Segregation for Theory and Management
- Paternal Investment and Sexual Selection
- Population Dynamics
Chapter 9. Failing to Consider Sexual Segregation
- Moose
- North American Elk
- White-Tailed Deer
- Bighorn Sheep
Chapter 10. The Future
- Defining Sexual Segregation
- Why Is Sexual Segregation Overlooked?
- Future Questions and Directions
- Relevance to Other Organisms
Literature Cited
Index
R. Terry Bowyer (Estacada, OR) is Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Ecology and Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Arctic Biology of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He has received the Distinguished Moose Biologist Award, the O. C. Wallmo Award for his studies of mule deer, and the C. Hart Merriam Award for his outstanding contributions to the science of mammalogy.
"A monumental undertaking that is clearly needed to reduce confusion and focus future investigations on existing hypotheses that merit further investigation. Terry Bowyer is the person to write this book. No one brings his combination of experience and scholarship to the phenomenon. Behavioral ecologists, population ecologists, and evolutionary biologists will be interested in this book."
– Floyd W. Weckerly, Texas State University
