Large-scale variation in birth timing and synchrony of a large herbivore along the latitudinal and altitudinal gradients

Abstract

Hopkins’ Bioclimatic Law predicts geographical patterns in phenological timing by establishing a correspondence between latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. First proposed for key phenological events of plants, such as leaf sprouting or flowering dates, this law has rarely been used to assess the geographical equivalence of key life-history traits of mammals. We hypothesize that (H1) parturition dates of European roe deer Capreolus capreolus are delayed and more synchronized at higher latitudes and altitudes, (H2) parturition timing varies along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in a way that matches the Hopkins’ Bioclimatic Law and (H3) females adjust parturition timing to match the period of high energy demand with peak resource availability. We used parturition dates of 7,444 European roe deer from Switzerland to assess altitudinal variation in birth timing and synchrony from 288 to 2,366 m a.s.l. We then performed a literature survey to compare altitudinal results with those from different populations along the species’ latitudinal range of distribution. Finally, we performed spatial analysis combining our highly resolved altitudinal data on parturition dates with plant phenology data. As expected, parturition dates were delayed with increasing latitude and altitude. This delay matched the Bioclimatic Law, as the effect of 1º increase in latitude was similar to 120 m increase in altitude. However, while parturitions were more synchronized with increasing altitude, we did not detect any trend along the latitudinal gradient. Finally, plant phenology explained altitudinal variation in parturition timing better than a linear effect of altitude. Our findings clearly demonstrate the ability of a large herbivore to match parturition timing with phenological conditions across the altitudinal gradient, even at the smallest spatial scales.