We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Elevation impacts the balance between growth and oxidative stress in coal tits.
- Authors
Stier, Antoine; Delestrade, Anne; Zahn, Sandrine; Arrivé, Mathilde; Criscuolo, François; Massemin-Challet, Sylvie
- Abstract
The short favorable period of time available for the growth in seasonal environments could constrain the resources allocation between growth and other life-history traits, and the short-term fitness benefits of increased growth rate may prevail over other functions. Accelerated growth rates have been associated with long-term deleterious consequences (e.g., decreased lifespan), and recently oxidative stress (the imbalance between pro-oxidants generation and antioxidant defenses) has been suggested as a mediator of these effects. Here, we examined the impact of elevation on growth rate and self-maintenance parameters (resting metabolism, oxidative damage, and antioxidant defenses) of coal tit chicks ( Periparus ater). We predicted that the shorter favorable season at the higher-elevation site could lead to a reallocation of resources towards growth at the expense of self-maintenance processes. We found that chicks at high elevation grew significantly faster in terms of body mass and body size. Chicks from the high-elevation site presented higher resting metabolism, higher oxidative damage level, but similar antioxidant defenses, compared to low-elevation chicks. Interestingly, the chicks exhibiting the better antioxidant defenses at 7 days were also those with the highest resting metabolic rate, and the chicks that grew at the faster rate within the high-elevation site were those with the highest levels of oxidative damage on DNA. Our study supports the idea that increasing elevation leads to a higher growth rate in coal tit chicks, possibly in response to a shorter favorable season. In accordance with life-history theory, a bigger investment in growth was done at the expense of body maintenance, at least in terms of oxidative stress.
- Subjects
OXIDATIVE stress; COAL tit; ANTIOXIDANTS; METABOLISM; BODY size; DNA damage
- Publication
Oecologia, 2014, Vol 175, Issue 3, p791
- ISSN
0029-8549
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00442-014-2946-2