Blumstein3

Holarctic Marmots as a factor of Biodiversity.<BR> Rumiantsev V.Yu;, Nikol'skii A.A. & Brandler O.V. eds.,
Abstracts, 3d Conference on Marmots (Cheboksary, Russia, 25-30 August 1997),
Moscow ABF 1997, 216p. : 129.

SURVIVORSHIP OF GOLDEN MARMOT (MARMOTA CAUDATA AUREA) IN PAKISTAN

D.T. Blumstein*, J.C. Daniel*, W. Arnold**

* Department of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
** Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Vienna Veterinary University, Vienna, Austria

Comparing life tables for closely related species may identify species-specific constraints and are required to test hypotheses about social evolution. Survivorship curves for yellow-bellied (M. flaviventris) (Schwartz et al. 1998), Vancouver Island (M. vancouverensis) (Bryant 1996), and Olympic marmots (M. olympus) (Barash 1973) suggest that non-pup annual mortality is relatively lower for the highly social Vancouver Island and Olympic marmots than for the somewhat less social yellow-bellied marmot. We predicted that if sociality and mortality rates are related, the highly social golden marmot (M. caudata aurea) will have a relatively low annual mortality rate.

From 1988 to 1993, we studied the behavior and ecology of golden marmots in Khunjerab National Park, Pakistan (Blumstein and Arnold 1998). Sufficient data were collected to calculate a partial survivorship curve: infrequent reproduction prevented further life table analyses. The fates of all animals caught in the core study site in 1988, and all pups born in or before 1991, were followed through 1993.

Females age	act.n	ax	Lx	dx	qx	px	Log(ax)	Log(Lx)	kx
0	18	97	1000	722	0.72	0.28	1.99	3.00	0.56
1	5	27	278	0	0.00	1.00	1.43	2.44	0.00
2	27	27	278	82	0.30	0.70	1.43	2.44	0.15
3	19	19	195	62	0.32	0.68	1.28	2.29	0.16
4	13	13	134	21	0.15	0.85	1.11	2.13	0.07
5	11	11	113	21	0.18	0.82	1.04	2.05	0.09
6	9	9	93	21	0.22	0.78	0.95	1.97	0.11
7	7	7	72	-	-	-	0.85	1.86	-
Males age
0	23	130	1000	609	0.61	0.39	2.12	3.00	0.41
1	6	51	391	130	0.33	0.67	1.71	2.59	0.18
2	34	34	261	69	0.26	0.74	1.53	2.42	0.13
3	25	25	192	54	0.28	0.72	1.40	2.28	0.14
4	18	18	138	31	0.22	0.78	1.26	2.14	0.11
5	14	14	107	15	0.14	0.86	1.15	2.03	0.07
6	12	12	92	31	0.33	0.67	1.08	1.96	0.18
7	8	8	61	-	-	-	0.90	1.79	-

Once golden marmots survived their first year, survivorship curves did not differ significantly from those of other highly social species. Blumstein and Armitage (1998) suggested that a benefit of complex social behavior is reduced mortality. Schwartz et al. (1998) proposed that sociality stabilizes access to resources and reduces annual mortality. Golden marmot survivorship curves are consistent with both predictions.

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