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Migration distance and maternal resource allocation determine timing of birth in a large herbivore.

ABSTRACT: Birth timing is a key life-history characteristic that influences fitness and population performance. For migratory animals, however, appropriately timing birth on one seasonal range may be constrained by events occurring during other parts of the migratory cycle. We investigated how the use of capital and income resources may facilitate flexibility in reproductive phenology of migratory mule deer in western Wyoming, USA, over a 5-yr period (2015-2019). Specifically, we examined how seasonal interactions affected three interrelated life-history characteristics: fetal development, birth mass, and birth timing. Females in good nutritional condition at the onset of winter and those that migrated short distances had more developed fetuses (measured as fetal eye diameter in March). Variation in parturition date was explained largely by fetal development; however, there were up to 16 d of plasticity in expected birth date. Plasticity in expected birth date was shaped by income resources in the form of exposure to spring green-up. Although individuals that experienced greater exposure to spring green-up were able to advance expected birth date, being born early or late with respect to fetal development had no effect on birth mass of offspring. Furthermore, we investigated the trade-offs migrating mule deer face by evaluating support for existing theory that predicts that births should be matched to local peaks in resource availability at the birth site. In contrast to this prediction, only long-distance migrants that paced migration with the flush of spring green-up, giving birth shortly after ending migration, were able to match birth with spring green-up. Shorter-distance migrants completed migration sooner and gave birth earlier, seemingly trading off more time for offspring to grow and develop over greater access to resources. Thus, movement tactic had profound downstream effects on birth timing. These findings highlight a need to reconsider classical theory on optimal birth timing, which has focused solely on conditions at the birth site.

SUBMITTER: Aikens EO

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8243980 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Many healthcare services are under considerable pressure to reduce costs while improving quality. This is particularly true in the United Kingdom's National Health Service where postnatal care is sometimes viewed as having a low priority. There is much debate about the service's redesign and the reallocation of resources, both along care pathways and between groups of mothers and babies with different needs. The aim of this study was to develop a decision support tool that would encourage a systemic approach to service redesign and that could assess the various quality and financial implications of service change options making the consequent trade-offs explicit. The paper describes the development process and an initial implementation as a preliminary exploration of the possible merits of this approach. METHODS:Other studies have suggested that combining multicriteria decision analysis with programme budgeting and marginal analysis might offer a suitable basis for resource allocation decisions in healthcare systems. The Postnatal care Resource Allocation Model incorporated this approach in a decision support tool to analyse the consequences of varying design parameters, notably staff contacts and time, on the various quality domains and costs. The initial phase of the study focussed on mapping postnatal care, involving interviews and workshops with a variety of stakeholders. This was supplemented with a literature review and the resultant knowledge base was encoded in the decision support tool. The model was then tested with various stakeholders before being used in an NHS Trust in England. RESULTS:The model provides practical support, helping staff explore options and articulate their proposals for the redesign of postnatal care. The integration of cost and quality domains facilitates trade-offs, allowing staff to explore the benefits of reallocating resources between hospital and community-based care, and different patient-categories. CONCLUSIONS:The main benefits of the model include its structure for assembling the key data, sharing evidence amongst multi-professional teams and encouraging constructive, systemic debate. Although the model was developed in the context of the routine maternity services for mothers and babies in the days following birth it could be adapted for use in other health care services.

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Migration distance and maternal resource allocation determine timing of birth in a large herbivore.

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