Trait-dependent associations between early- and late-life reproduction in a wild mammal

Abstract

Early- versus late-life trade-offs are a central prediction of life-history theory that are expected to shape the evolution of ageing. While ageing is widely observed in wild vertebrates, evidence that early–late trade-offs influence ageing rates remains limited. Vertebrate reproduction is a complex, multi-stage process, yet few studies have examined how different aspects of early-life reproductive allocation shape late-life performance and ageing. Here, we use longitudinal data from a 36-year study of wild Soay sheep to show that early-life reproduction predicts late-life reproductive performance in a trait-dependent manner. Females that started breeding earlier showed more rapid declines in annual breeding probability with age, consistent with a trade-off. However, age-related declines in offspring first-year survival and birth weight were not associated with early-life reproduction. Selective disappearance was evident in all three late-life reproductive measures, with longer-lived females having higher average performance. Our results provide mixed support for early–late reproductive trade-offs and show that the way early-life reproduction shapes late-life performance and ageing can differ among reproductive traits.