title: Different hunting strategies select for different weights in red deer.
abstract: Much insight can be derived from records of shot animals. Most researchers using such data assume that their data represents a random sample of a particular demographic class. However, hunters typically select a non-random subset of the population and hunting is, therefore, not a random process. Here, with red deer (Cervus elaphus) hunting data from a ranch in Toledo, Spain, we demonstrate that data collection methods have a significant influence upon the apparent relationship between age and weight. We argue that a failure to correct for such methodological bias may have significant consequences for the interpretation of analyses involving weight or correlated traits such as breeding success, and urge researchers to explore methods to identify and correct for such bias in their data.
authors.affiliation: E.T.S. Ingenieros de Montes, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. martinezmari@gmail.com
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Vigal
authors.forename: Owen R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Coulson
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: San Miguel
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000502:physiology*; D001947:Breeding; D003625:Data Collection; D003670:Deer / Q000502:physiology*; D015983:Selection Bias; D013030:Spain; D013177:Sports; D014894:Weights and Measures