Due to the extirpation of their natural predators, feral horse populations have expanded across the United States, necessitating their management. Contraception of females (mares) with porcine zona pellucida (PZP) is a popular option; however, effects to physiology and behavior can be substantial. On Shackleford Banks, North Carolina, USA, treated mares have exhibited cycling during the non-breeding season and demonstrated decreased fidelity to the band stallion, but PZP's long-term effects on mare physiology and behavior remain largely unexplored. After the contraception program was suspended in this population, we examined how prior exposure to varying levels of PZP treatment impacted (1) foaling probability and foaling dates (a proxy for ovulatory cycling) from 2009 to 2014 and (2) mare fidelity to the band stallion and reproductive behavior during 2013 and 2015. Additionally, we evaluated the effects of time since the mares' last treatment on these factors. Mares receiving any level of prior PZP treatment were less likely to foal than were untreated mares. Among mares that received 1-3 PZP applications, foaling probability increased with time since last treatment before declining, at ~6 years post-treatment. Mares that received 4+ applications did not exhibit a significant increase in foaling probability with time since last treatment. Moreover, previously treated mares continued to conceive later than did untreated mares. Finally, mares previously receiving 4+ treatments changed groups more often than did untreated mares, though reproductive behavior did not differ with contraception history. Our results suggest that although PZP-induced subfertility and its associated behavioral effects can persist after the cessation of treatment, these effects can be ameliorated for some factors with less intense treatment. Careful consideration to the frequency of PZP treatment is important to maintaining more naturally functioning populations; the ability to manage populations adaptively may be compromised if females are kept subfertile for extended periods of time.

译文

由于其天敌的灭绝,野马的数量在美国各地扩大,因此有必要对其进行管理。用猪透明带 (PZP) 避孕雌性 (母马) 是一种流行的选择; 但是,对生理和行为的影响可能是巨大的。在美国北卡罗来纳州的Shackleford Banks上,经过处理的母马在非繁殖季节表现出骑自行车,并且对种马的保真度降低,但是PZP对母马生理和行为的长期影响仍未得到探索。在该人群中暂停避孕计划后,我们研究了先前暴露于不同水平的PZP治疗如何影响 (1) 种马概率和种马日期 (排卵周期的代表) 2009年2014年以及 (2) 母马对种马的忠诚度和生殖行为2013年和2015。此外,我们评估了自母马上次治疗以来的时间对这些因素的影响。与未经治疗的母马相比,接受任何水平的PZP治疗的母马患小马驹的可能性较小。在接受1-3次PZP应用的母马中,自上次治疗以来,母马的概率随时间增加而增加,直到治疗后约6年才下降。自上次治疗以来,接受4次申请的母马的出马概率没有随时间显着增加。此外,以前治疗过的母马比未治疗的母马继续受孕。最后,尽管生殖行为与避孕史没有差异,但先前接受4种治疗的母马比未经治疗的母马更易改变组。我们的结果表明,尽管PZP诱导的生育能力低下及其相关的行为影响在停止治疗后可以持续存在,但对于某些因素而言,这些影响可以通过较小的治疗得到改善。仔细考虑PZP治疗的频率对于维持更自然功能的人群很重要; 如果女性长时间保持低生育能力,则适应性管理人群的能力可能会受到损害。

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