Survival estimates of free-living arctic ground squirrels: effects of sex and biologging

Hibernation is associated with long lifespan: on average, hibernating mammals live 15% longer than non-hibernators of equivalent mass. We investigated how survival varies with sex, season, and the deployment of biologgers in arctic ground squirrels [Urocitellus parryii (Richardson, 1825)], a widely-distributed northern hibernator. The duration of hibernation in arctic ground squirrels differs markedly by sex: females hibernate 30% longer each year than males, a behavioural trait that could positively affect female survival. Additionally, males engage in aggressive territorial and food cache defense in spring and fall, which may decrease survival in this sex. From 13 years of mark-recapture data, we estimated apparent survival of arctic ground squirrels in Arctic Alaska using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models in Program MARK. We found that females had higher annual survival ["φ" ̂Fannual = 0.753 (0.469; 0.913 C.I.)] than males ["φ" ̂Mannual = 0.546 (0.416; 0.670)], with a maximum observed lifespan (10 years) that exceeded that of males (six years). We also show that biologger use and implantation did not significantly impact survival. Quantifying basic arctic ground squirrel demographics from this well-studied population illustrates how sex-specific hibernation parameters may influence lifespan differences in male and female arctic ground squirrels and provides support for the safety of biologging devices.

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