Telomere length correlates with physiological and behavioural responses of a long-lived seabird to an ecologically relevant challenge.

ABSTRACT: Determinants of individual variation in reallocation of limited resources towards self-maintenance versus reproduction are not well known. We tested the hypothesis that individual heterogeneity in long-term 'somatic state' (i) explains variation in endocrine and behavioural responses to environmental challenges, and (ii) is associated with variation in strategies for allocating to self-maintenance versus reproduction. We used relative telomere length as an indicator of somatic state and experimentally generated an abrupt short-term reduction of food availability (withdrawal of food supplementation) for free-living seabirds (black-legged kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla). Incubating male kittiwakes responded to withdrawal by increasing circulating corticosterone and losing more weight co

SUBMITTER: Benowitz-Fredericks ZM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9277278 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature