In high density environments, adults are more likely to die in their prime age than in low-density environments. Taber & Dasmann (1958) have shown this to be the case for populations of black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus columbianus living in two dissimilar habitats in California, one poor in nutritients with a low density and the other rich in nutrients with a higher density.
Thanks a lot! We need it in order to address an issue in the fossil record, hopefully you'll see it in due time printed.
As far as I know, it would be exactly the opposite: in large herbivores juvenile survival is generally much more sensitive to density dependence than adult survival . See the paper of Gaillard et al. (1998, “Population dynamics of large herbivores…”, TREE) for a review.
I'll read that paper; I have the impression it is an addition, juvenile survival and adult survival may each follow different density-related factors.
Age specific mortality schedules vary hugely with density and the presence / absence of predators and between species.. The Gaillard paper is the best starting point, but you could also check out the following;
Gervasi, V., Nilsen, E.B., Sand, H., Panzacchi, M., Rauset, G.R., Pedersen, H.C., Kindberg, J., Wabakken, P., Zimmermann, B., Odden, J., Liberg, O., Swenson, J.E. & Linnell, J.D.C. (2012) Predicting the potential demographic impact of predators on their prey: a comåarative analysis of two carnivore-ungulate systems in Scandinavia. Journal of Animal Ecology, 81, 443-454.
Loison, A., Festa-Bianchet, M., Gaillard, J.M., Jorgenson, J.T. & Jullien, J.M. (1999) Age-specific survival in five populations of ungulates: evidence of senescence. Ecology, 80, 2539-2554.
Gaillard, J.M., Festa-Bianchet, M., Yoccoz, N.G. & Toïgo, C. (2000) Temporal variation in fitness components and population dynamics of large herbivores. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 31, 367-393.
o rthis one hot off the press http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/ES13-00099.1
I would suggest that you have a read at Bonenfant et al. Chapter 5 Empirical Evidence of Density‐Dependence in Populations of Large Herbivores, In: Hal Caswell, Editor(s), Advances in Ecological Research, Academic Press, 2009, Volume 41, Pages 313-357
It's available under Google Scholar.
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