Abstract:
In group-living mammals, the eviction of subordinate females from breeding
groups by dominants may serve to reduce feeding competition or to reduce
breeding competition. Here, we combined both correlational and experimental
approaches to investigate whether increases in food intake by dominant
females reduces their tendency to evict subordinate females in wild meerkats
(Suricata suricatta). We used 20 years of long-term data to examine the association
between foraging success and eviction rate, and provisioned dominant
females during the second half of their pregnancy, when they most commonly
evict subordinates. We show that rather than reducing the tendency for dominants
to evict subordinates, foraging success of dominant females is positively
associated with the probability that pregnant dominant females will evict subordinate
females and that experimental feeding increased their rates of
eviction. Our results suggest that it is unlikely that the eviction of subordinate
females serves to reduce feeding competition and that its principal function
may be to reduce reproductive competition. The increase in eviction rates following
experimental feeding also suggests that rather than feeding
competition, energetic constraints may normally constrain eviction rates.
