scholarly journals Egg colouration predicts brood size, telomere length and body condition of spotless starling fledglings

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. jav-012512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. Soler ◽  
Cristina Ruiz-Castellano ◽  
Jordi Figuerola ◽  
Josué Martínez-de la Puente ◽  
Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Egg Colouration ◽  
Spotless Starling

scholarly journals Glucocorticoids, state-dependent reproductive investment and success in the face of danger in a long-lived bird

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Noreikienė ◽  
Kim Jaatinen ◽  
Benjamin B. Steele ◽  
Markus Öst
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Relative Telomere Length ◽  
Future Reproduction

AbstractGlucocorticoid hormones may mediate trade-offs between current and future reproduction. However, understanding their role is complicated by predation risk, which simultaneously affects the value of the current reproductive investment and elevates glucocorticoid levels. Here, we shed light on these issues in long-lived female Eiders (Somateria mollissima) by investigating how current reproductive investment (clutch size) and hatching success relate to faecal glucocorticoid metabolite [fGCM] level and residual reproductive value (minimum years of breeding experience, body condition, relative telomere length) under spatially variable predation risk. Our results showed a positive relationship between colony-specific predation risk and mean colony-specific fGCM levels. Clutch size and female fGCM were negatively correlated only under high nest predation and in females in good body condition, previously shown to have a longer life expectancy. We also found that younger females with longer telomeres had smaller clutches. The drop in hatching success with increasing fGCM levels was least pronounced under high nest predation risk, suggesting that elevated fGCM levels may allow females to ensure some reproductive success under such conditions. Hatching success was positively associated with female body condition, with relative telomere length, particularly in younger females, and with female minimum age, particularly under low predation risk, showing the utility of these metrics as indicators of individual quality. In line with a trade-off between current and future reproduction, our results show that high potential for future breeding prospects and increased predation risk shift the balance toward investment in future reproduction, with glucocorticoids playing a role in the resolution of this trade-off.

scholarly journals Nestling telomere shortening, but not telomere length, reflects developmental stress and predicts survival in wild birds

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1785) ◽  
pp. 20133287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelle J. Boonekamp ◽  
G. A. Mulder ◽  
H. Martijn Salomons ◽  
Cor Dijkstra ◽  
Simon Verhulst
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Developmental Stress ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Telomere Shortening ◽  
Developmental Effects ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Developmental Conditions ◽  
Fledgling Mass

Developmental stressors often have long-term fitness consequences, but linking offspring traits to fitness prospects has remained a challenge. Telomere length predicts mortality in adult birds, and may provide a link between developmental conditions and fitness prospects. Here, we examine the effects of manipulated brood size on growth, telomere dynamics and post-fledging survival in free-living jackdaws. Nestlings in enlarged broods achieved lower mass and lost 21% more telomere repeats relative to nestlings in reduced broods, showing that developmental stress accelerates telomere shortening. Adult telomere length was positively correlated with their telomere length as nestling ( r = 0.83). Thus, an advantage of long telomeres in nestlings is carried through to adulthood. Nestling telomere shortening predicted post-fledging survival and recruitment independent of manipulation and fledgling mass. This effect was strong, with a threefold difference in recruitment probability over the telomere shortening range. By contrast, absolute telomere length was neither affected by brood size manipulation nor related to survival. We conclude that telomere loss, but not absolute telomere length, links developmental conditions to subsequent survival and suggest that telomere shortening may provide a key to unravelling the physiological causes of developmental effects on fitness.

scholarly journals Offspring telomere length in the long lived Alpine swift is negatively related to the age of their biological father and foster mother

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 20170188 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Criscuolo ◽  
Sandrine Zahn ◽  
Pierre Bize
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Telomere Length ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Foster Parents ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Foster Mother ◽  
Biological Father ◽  
Accumulation Of Damage ◽  
Older Males

A growing body of studies is showing that offspring telomere length (TL) can be influenced by the age of their parents. Such a relationship might be explained by variation in TL at conception (gamete effect) and/or by alteration of early growth conditions in species providing parental care. In a long-lived bird with bi-parental care, the Alpine swift ( Apus melba ), we exchanged an uneven number of 2 to 4-day-old nestlings between pairs as part of a brood size manipulation. Nestling TL was measured at 50 days after hatching, which allowed investigation of the influence of the age of both their biological and foster parents on offspring TL, after controlling for the manipulation. Nestling TL was negatively related to the age of their biological father and foster mother. Nestling TL did not differ between enlarged and reduced broods. These findings suggest that offspring from older males were fertilized by gametes with shorter telomeres, presumably due to a greater cell division history or a longer accumulation of damage, and that older females may have provided poorer parental care to their offspring.

scholarly journals Brood size, telomere length, and parent-offspring color signaling in barn swallows

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Costanzo ◽  
Marco Parolini ◽  
Gaia Bazzi ◽  
Lela Khoriauli ◽  
Marco Santagostino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Barn Swallows

Factors affecting brood abandonment in gadwalls (Anas strepera)

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Gendron ◽  
Robert G Clark
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Confounding Factor ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Proximate Factors ◽  
Anas Strepera ◽  
Brood Desertion ◽  
Brood Success

Brood desertion by radio-equipped female gadwalls (Anas strepera) was examined to test three hypotheses regarding proximate factors responsible for post hatch brood abandonment in waterfowl. Gadwall broods with the greatest duckling mortality, independent of brood size, were more likely to be abandoned, providing support for the "brood-success" hypothesis. Our results do not support the "brood-size" hypothesis, as the size of broods immediately prior to female abandonment was no smaller than the size of broods not abandoned. Although brood fate was not related to female body condition, the "salvage-strategy" hypothesis could not be rejected, because experience was a confounding factor and could not be sampled adequately; younger, possibly less-experienced females were more likely to abandon their broods than older females. Further studies, preferably involving experimental manipulations, are needed to adequately address the full array of hypotheses.

scholarly journals Age-related sex differences in body condition and telomere dynamics of red-sided garter snakes

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1852) ◽  
pp. 20162146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicky Rollings ◽  
Emily J. Uhrig ◽  
Randolph W. Krohmer ◽  
Heather L. Waye ◽  
Robert T. Mason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Thamnophis Sirtalis ◽  
Garter Snakes ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Males And Females

Life-history strategies vary dramatically between the sexes, which may drive divergence in sex-specific senescence and mortality rates. Telomeres are tandem nucleotide repeats that protect the ends of chromosomes from erosion during cell division. Telomeres have been implicated in senescence and mortality because they tend to shorten with stress, growth and age. We investigated age-specific telomere length in female and male red-sided garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis . We hypothesized that age-specific telomere length would differ between males and females given their divergent reproductive strategies. Male garter snakes emerge from hibernation with high levels of corticosterone, which facilitates energy mobilization to fuel mate-searching, courtship and mating behaviours during a two to four week aphagous breeding period at the den site. Conversely, females remain at the dens for only about 4 days and seem to invest more energy in growth and cellular maintenance, as they usually reproduce biennially. As male investment in reproduction involves a yearly bout of physiologically stressful activities, while females prioritize self-maintenance, we predicted male snakes would experience more age-specific telomere loss than females. We investigated this prediction using skeletochronology to determine the ages of individuals and qPCR to determine telomere length in a cross-sectional study. For both sexes, telomere length was positively related to body condition. Telomere length decreased with age in male garter snakes, but remained stable in female snakes. There was no correlation between telomere length and growth in either sex, suggesting that our results are a consequence of divergent selection on life histories of males and females. Different selection on the sexes may be the physiological consequence of the sexual dimorphism and mating system dynamics displayed by this species.

scholarly journals Brood size moderates associations between relative size, telomere length, and immune development in European starling nestlings

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. 8138-8148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nettle ◽  
Clare Andrews ◽  
Sophie Reichert ◽  
Tom Bedford ◽  
Annie Gott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Immune Development

scholarly journals Telomere length and dynamics of spotless starling nestlings depend on nest-building materials used by parents

2017 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 89-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. Soler ◽  
Cristina Ruiz-Castellano ◽  
Jordi Figuerola ◽  
Manuel Martín-Vivaldi ◽  
Josué Martínez-de la Puente ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Telomere Length ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Spotless Starling ◽  
Materials Used
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