Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?

Background Limited information exists on the active role of females during mate searching. Theory primarily focuses,on male reproductive behaviours, suggesting male distribution follows that of females, while female distribution,is infuenced by food resources and habitat. This approach might underes...

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Autores: Penteriani, Vincenzo, Delgado, María del Mar, Kojola, Ilpo, Heikkinen, Samuli, Fedorca, Ancuta, García Sánchez, Pino, Balbontín Arenas, Javier, Swenson, Jon E.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/174186
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/174186
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00553-6
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Females
Infanticide
Mating excursions
Mating strategies
Movement ecology
Roaming–to–mate
Ursus arctos
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spelling Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?Penteriani, VincenzoDelgado, María del MarKojola, IlpoHeikkinen, SamuliFedorca, AncutaGarcía Sánchez, PinoBalbontín Arenas, JavierSwenson, Jon E.FemalesInfanticideMating excursionsMating strategiesMovement ecologyRoaming–to–mateUrsus arctosBackground Limited information exists on the active role of females during mate searching. Theory primarily focuses,on male reproductive behaviours, suggesting male distribution follows that of females, while female distribution,is infuenced by food resources and habitat. This approach might underestimate the females’ role in shaping mating,strategies. Incorporating a female perspective into mating studies can enhance our understanding of evolutionary,factors.,Methods Using GPS data from brown bears Ursus arctos across Finland, Romania and Slovakia, we explored female,movement behaviour during the mating period. First, we estimated movement speed, total distance and net distance,at a daily scale. Then, we quantitatively described when the movement peaks occur by estimating two critical points,of the functions described by each of the aforementioned movement parameters: (1) the point in time when the rate,of change in brown bear movement behaviour is the highest; and (2) the point in time when each aspect,of brown bear movement is most pronounced. We quantifed temporal variations in male and female movements,throughout the year using generalized additive mixed models, while we used linear mixed models to assess the,relationship between peak movement parameters, bear sex and population.,Results Our fndings identifed two overlooked behaviours: (1) male and female movement parameters showed,the highest rate of change during the mating season, challenging the notion of male roaming as the primary mating,strategy; and (2) females travelled the longest distances during the mating season, potentially seeking high-quality,mates. This behaviour aligns with the strategy of engaging in copulations with multiple males to avoid infanticide.,Conclusions Our study reveals novel insights into the active role of female brown bears in mating strategies,,challenging traditional male-centric views. These results support the need for detailed investigations into female,behaviours across mammalian taxa, which ofer potential to advance our understanding of mammalian social,and mating systems. Local diferences also underscore the importance of social and ecological conditions to explain,variation in the female role in mating strategies.BioMed CentralZoologíaMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIN). EspañaAgencia Estatal de Investigación. EspañaEuropean Union (UE)Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Finland2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/174186https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00553-6reponame:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevillainstname:Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)InglésMovement Ecology, 13 (1), 24.PID2020-114181GB-I00ITMS 26220120069LIFE17NAT/IT/464 SAFECROSSINGhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00553-6info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:idus.us.es:11441/1741862026-06-17T12:51:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
title Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
spellingShingle Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
Penteriani, Vincenzo
Females
Infanticide
Mating excursions
Mating strategies
Movement ecology
Roaming–to–mate
Ursus arctos
title_short Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
title_full Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
title_fullStr Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
title_full_unstemmed Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
title_sort Mating from a female perspective: Do brown bear females play an active role in mate searching?
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Penteriani, Vincenzo
Delgado, María del Mar
Kojola, Ilpo
Heikkinen, Samuli
Fedorca, Ancuta
García Sánchez, Pino
Balbontín Arenas, Javier
Swenson, Jon E.
author Penteriani, Vincenzo
author_facet Penteriani, Vincenzo
Delgado, María del Mar
Kojola, Ilpo
Heikkinen, Samuli
Fedorca, Ancuta
García Sánchez, Pino
Balbontín Arenas, Javier
Swenson, Jon E.
author_role author
author2 Delgado, María del Mar
Kojola, Ilpo
Heikkinen, Samuli
Fedorca, Ancuta
García Sánchez, Pino
Balbontín Arenas, Javier
Swenson, Jon E.
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Zoología
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIN). España
Agencia Estatal de Investigación. España
European Union (UE)
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Finland
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Females
Infanticide
Mating excursions
Mating strategies
Movement ecology
Roaming–to–mate
Ursus arctos
topic Females
Infanticide
Mating excursions
Mating strategies
Movement ecology
Roaming–to–mate
Ursus arctos
description Background Limited information exists on the active role of females during mate searching. Theory primarily focuses,on male reproductive behaviours, suggesting male distribution follows that of females, while female distribution,is infuenced by food resources and habitat. This approach might underestimate the females’ role in shaping mating,strategies. Incorporating a female perspective into mating studies can enhance our understanding of evolutionary,factors.,Methods Using GPS data from brown bears Ursus arctos across Finland, Romania and Slovakia, we explored female,movement behaviour during the mating period. First, we estimated movement speed, total distance and net distance,at a daily scale. Then, we quantitatively described when the movement peaks occur by estimating two critical points,of the functions described by each of the aforementioned movement parameters: (1) the point in time when the rate,of change in brown bear movement behaviour is the highest; and (2) the point in time when each aspect,of brown bear movement is most pronounced. We quantifed temporal variations in male and female movements,throughout the year using generalized additive mixed models, while we used linear mixed models to assess the,relationship between peak movement parameters, bear sex and population.,Results Our fndings identifed two overlooked behaviours: (1) male and female movement parameters showed,the highest rate of change during the mating season, challenging the notion of male roaming as the primary mating,strategy; and (2) females travelled the longest distances during the mating season, potentially seeking high-quality,mates. This behaviour aligns with the strategy of engaging in copulations with multiple males to avoid infanticide.,Conclusions Our study reveals novel insights into the active role of female brown bears in mating strategies,,challenging traditional male-centric views. These results support the need for detailed investigations into female,behaviours across mammalian taxa, which ofer potential to advance our understanding of mammalian social,and mating systems. Local diferences also underscore the importance of social and ecological conditions to explain,variation in the female role in mating strategies.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/11441/174186
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00553-6
url https://hdl.handle.net/11441/174186
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00553-6
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Movement Ecology, 13 (1), 24.
PID2020-114181GB-I00
ITMS 26220120069
LIFE17NAT/IT/464 SAFECROSSING
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-025-00553-6
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv BioMed Central
publisher.none.fl_str_mv BioMed Central
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
instname:Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
instname_str Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
reponame_str idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
collection idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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