Figure 4
Expected reproductive success of greater snow geese in relation to relative laying date for birds laying a hypothetical clutch size of 2 to 6 eggs. Reproductive success is the number of offspring reaching 1 year of age. Figures show expected reproductive success at the beginning (a), half-way (b) and at the end (c) of the study period. Dots represent mean observed clutch size for each laying dates in those years. On panel (a), the black arrow and associated grey shading represents the maximum number of days (here, 1.6 days) that a bird about to lay 5 eggs on Day − 4 could delay laying to acquire enough nutrient to lay an extra egg and achieve a higher reproductive success (see text for details).
