Age-specific survival of territorial and nonterritorial male chamois

How alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are maintained in wildlife populations is one of the major questions in evolutionary biology. As a dominant status, territoriality is typically linked to increased mating opportunities, and one explanation for why this behaviour coexists with other tactics is that dominance implies survival costs. Such a trade-off may occur in the Northern chamois Rupicapra rupicapra, as reproductive advantages of territorial males over nonterritorial males could be counterbalanced by a reduction in survival mediated through energy expenditure, stress and parasitic infections, ultimately favouring ART coexistence. Here, we analysed age-dependent survival probabilities of territorial (n=15) and nonterritorial (n=16) adult chamois using information collected over 12 years between 2010 and 2021 in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Western Italian Alps). Survival rates were estimated with a CMR approach using Burnham’s joint modelling of live encounter and dead rec..., ,