Resumen del producto

During the study period (2002-2016), the natality rate of northern elephant seals at San Benito colony fluctuated from <65% to ~90%. We did not find evidence for any relationship between environmental conditions and the natality rate. The lowest rate occurred in 2014, following 2013’s “normal” oceanographic year. The highest rate was in 2016, which was preceded by the strong 2015 El Niño event. We do not rule out the possibility that female reproduction may be influenced by environmental conditions; however, females could adopt different foraging strategies to maximize their reproductive potential in years of environmental stress. Natality values did not show a consistent decrease between 2012 and 2016, which suggests that the recent decline of the colony may not be related to a negative trend in natality. Further research using more robust data is needed to improve our initial assessment and explore the effects of variation in age-specific vital rates on the population trend.

Palabras clave: Natality; populations; phocids

Para obtener una copia del documento contacta la personal de la biblioteca a través del correo bibliocicimar{a}ipn.mx