Speculations about the effects of previous reproductive 

 status on age-specific recruitment rates were based on 87 

 pairs of years . We used recruitment to 6 months as the 

 reproductive parameter because it indicated that the female 

 had undergone full lactation stress. Sample size by age class 

 ranged from 10 to 15 cases. Over all age classes, 55% of 

 females recruited fawns to 6 months in successive years, 38% 

 in alternate years, and 7% did not recruit fawns for 2 

 successive years. Females of age 4, 5, and 6 years were most 

 likely to recruit fawns when they had also recruited fawns the 

 previous year (71%). Eight and 9-year-old females were least 

 likely to recruit fawns in successive years (27%). Females of 

 ages 3, 8, and 9 years were most likely to recruit fawns in 

 only 1 of 2 years (57%). 



Trends in age-specific fawn production and recruitment 

 (Fig. 5.3) were generally typical of mammals (Caughley 1977); 

 climbing from puberty and forming a convex plateau. However, 

 relative declines after middle age were more severe than 

 typically seen. Data presented by Clutton-Brock et al . (1982) 

 also indicated a similar abrupt decline in fecundity for 

 middle-aged red deer hinds on the island of Rhum. Their data, 

 however, indicated a subsequent recovery in fecundity that we 

 did not observe. 



Some additional data were collected on reproduction and 

 recruitment by age class during 1984 and 1985, both years of 

 drought and nutritional stress. Data for recruitment to late 

 autumn for small samples of females observed during 1984 and 

 1985 (Table 5.4) indicated that all age classes of females 

 produced and recruited fewer fawns than during 1976-1983. 

 Very few fawns of the 1984 and 1985 cohorts were recruited to 

 1 year of age (6 fawns:100 females in 1984 and 21:100 in 

 1985). Females giving birth at 3 years and at 7 years and 

 older, declined the least in fawn recruitment relative to the 

 average for 1976-1983. First year breeders and females giving 

 birth at 4 , 5, and 6 years underwent the greatest decline in 

 recruitment . 



Nutritional stress appeared to have greatest influence on 

 first time breeders, as commonly reported, but females 

 normally producing the most fawns (4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds) 

 also were greatly affected. Except for first year breeders, 

 females giving birth at 3 years and 7 years of age and older 

 had recruited fewer fawns per capita the prior year than other 

 deer (Table 5.4). Thus, at least some members of those age 

 classes were most likely to be in the best condition during 

 1984 and 1985 and consequently produced most of the recruited 

 fawns. Four- to 6-year-old females, that usually recruited 

 the highest number of fawns per capita, may have been in the 

 poorest condition going into 1984 and 1985 because of 

 cumulative reproductive stress, and thus experienced the 



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