In polygynous ungulates, male breeding success is often achieved through alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). The maintenance of ARTs in this taxon is largely explained by condition-dependent selection, a decision rule in which individuals switch their breeding behaviour on the basis of internal factors such as ageing (status-dependent selection), or external factors such as weather conditions during the rut (environment-dependent selection). In some species, however, ARTs are fixed during the mating season, and other forms of selective pressures rather than environment-dependent selection may contribute to the evolutionary maintenance of male types within populations. Assuming female vicinity as a proxy of mating opportunity, we explored the effect of snow depth variations on the elevational overlap between females, and territorial and non-territorial male chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, in three consecutive rutting seasons. In snow-free periods, females overlapped with non-territorial males, but not with territorial ones. With increasing snow depth, females and territorial males progressively occupied similar elevations. Our results suggest that snow cover variations may impose changes in the spatial distribution of males and females. In turn, weather stochasticity over multiple ruts, rather than within-rut environment-dependent selection, may impose variations in mating opportunities of ARTs, possibly contributing to the coexistence of different phenotypes within populations.

中文翻译：

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Rupicapra rupicapra北部羚羊的天气随机性和替代生殖策略

在有齿的有蹄类动物中，雄性育种成功通常是通过替代生殖策略（ART）获得的。该分类单元中抗逆转录病毒药物的维持主要通过条件依赖性选择来解释，条件决定性选择是个体根据内部因素（例如衰老（状态依赖性选择））或外部因素（例如天气期间的天气条件）来切换其繁殖行为的决策规则。车轮痕迹（取决于环境的选择）。然而，在某些物种中，抗逆转录病毒药物在交配季节是固定的，其他形式的选择压力而不是环境依赖性选择可能有助于种群中雄性类型的进化维持。假设雌性附近地区有交配机会，我们探索了雪深变化对雌性之间海拔重叠的影响，Rupicapra rupicapra，连续三个发情季节。在无雪期，雌性与非属地的雄性重叠，但不与属地的雄性重叠。随着积雪深度的增加，雌性和领地男性逐渐占据类似的海拔高度。我们的结果表明，积雪的变化可能会导致雄性和雌性空间分布的变化。反过来，多个车辙上的天气随机性，而不是车辙内的环境依赖性选择，可能会导致ARTs的交配机会发生变化，从而可能有助于种群中不同表型的共存。