Impaired flight ability during incubation in the pied flycatcher

Kullberg, Cecilia; Metcalfe, Neil B.; Houston, David C.

doi:10.1034/j.1600-048x.2002.330209.x

Cited by 56 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…Flight performance was first measured when birds were 45 and 360 days old, using vertical take-off when alarmed. To test flight ability, we used a similar set up to that used in two previous studies (Kullberg et al, 2002;Criscuolo et al, 2011). Measurements were made in a vertical plastic tube.…”

Section: Flight Performance Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Immediate and delayed effects of growth conditions on ageing parameters in nestling zebra finches

Reichert

Criscuolo

Zahn

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Conditions experienced during development and growth are of crucial importance as they can have a significant influence on the optimisation of life histories. Indeed, the ability of an organism to grow fast and achieve a large body size often confers short-and long-term fitness benefits. However, there is good evidence that organisms do not grow at their maximal rates as growth rates seem to have potential costs on subsequent lifespan. There are several potential proximate causes of such a reduced lifespan. Among them, one emerging hypothesis is that growth impacts adult survival and/or longevity through a shared, end point, ageing mechanism: telomere erosion. In this study, we manipulated brood size in order to investigate whether rapid growth (chicks in reduced broods) is effectively done at the cost of a short-(end of growth) and long-term (at adulthood) increase of oxidative damage and telomere loss. Contrary to what we expected, chicks from the enlarged broods displayed more oxidative damage and had shorter telomeres at the end of the growth period and at adulthood. Our study extends the understanding of the proximate mechanisms involved in the trade-off between growth and ageing. It highlights that adverse environmental conditions during growth can come at a cost via transient increased oxidative stress and pervasive eroded telomeres. Indeed, it suggests that telomeres are not only controlled by intrinsic growth rates per se but also may be under the control of some extrinsic environmental factors, which could complicate our understanding of the growthageing interaction. KEY WORDS: Birds, Flight performance, Growth conditions, Oxidative stress, Telomeres INTRODUCTIONConditions experienced during growth are of crucial importance as they can have a significant influence on the optimisation of life histories (Ricklefs, 1979;Lindström, 1999). Indeed, early life conditions are known to directly impact growth patterns (De Kogel, 1997), metabolism (Desai and Hales, 1997), immune function (Saino et al., 1997) and sexual attractiveness (Gustafsson et al., 1995). Moreover, the ability of an organism to grow fast and achieve a large body size often correlates with short-and long-term fitness benefits (Richner, 1992;Reeve, 2000;Bonduriansky, 2001). Growth is a vulnerable stage for individuals, and organisms would therefore be expected to grow as quickly as they could in order to escape this risky (Arendt, 1997). Because growing fast is often associated with a large 'final' body size, especially in species with determinate growth, fast growth is also thought to greatly influence fitness at adulthood. Indeed, adult body size is frequently under strong natural and sexual selection, and larger individuals are often better 'equipped' to defend their food resources, territories or mates against conspecifics. In addition, larger individuals are often the favourites when it comes to choosing a mate (Shine, 1988; Arendt, 1997). However, the accumulation of counterintuitive data underlines that individuals presenting a...

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Section: Flight Performance Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All videos were analysed with Avidemux 2.5 ® . We used the fastest of the five flights as a measurement of the bird's escape flight ability (Kullberg et al, 2002).…”

Section: −1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Immediate and delayed effects of growth conditions on ageing parameters in nestling zebra finches

Reichert

Criscuolo

Zahn

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Female passerines are typically heavier when incubating than at other times in the reproductive cycle, apparently to minimise the risk of energy shortage during periods of adverse environmental conditions and help buffer against fluctuations in egg temperatures (Moreno, 1989). These additional energy reserves, however, appear to compromise flight ability and efficiency and are typically shed early in the nestling period (Slagsvold & Johansen, 1998;Kullberg et al, 2002). We predict that extra body reserves may be less important at heated nests because of the reduced energy expenditure and consequently, by the start of the nestling period, females from heated nests will be lighter than those at control nests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of reduced incubation cost on clutch attendance by male and female European starlings

Magrath¹,

Overveld²,

Komdeur³

2005

Behav

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SummaryIn biparental birds, the relative contribution of the sexes to parental care can be viewed as a co-operative equilibrium that reflects the relative costs and benefits to each parent. If there are asymmetries in these costs or benefits, then any changes to the cost of care could result in a corresponding adjustment to their relative contribution. Incubation is a parental activity, shared in many species, which is costly both in terms of energy expenditure and time. In this study we manipulated the cost of incubation for pairs of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) by experimentally warming selected clutches to examine how this affected attendance by each parent. We found that total nest attendance did not differ between heated and control nests, although there was some evidence among heated nests that attendance declined with increasing effectiveness of the heater. Furthermore, relative male contribution was greater at heated than control nests resulting from the net effect of females tending to reduce, and males increase, attendance. We suggest that this shift in relative attendance may have been observed because females have a more developed brood patch and are more sensitive and responsive to clutch temperature than males. Consequently, females tended to reduce attendance at heated nests while males, with less reliable information on the clutch's thermal status, increased attendance to compensate for the reduction by the female. We also found that females at heated nests were lighter than at control nests, possibly because they were able to shed the additional fat reserves, a characteristic of incubating birds, earlier than females at control nests. We suggest that adjustment of clutch temperature in biparental species provides a valuable approach to investigating factors, including functional differences, asymmetries in brood value, and parental negotiation rules, that shape the roles of the sexes in incubation.3)

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“…Reduced escape ability due to pregnancy has been shown in a variety of animal groups such as reptiles (Seigel et al, 1987;Miles et al, 2000), birds (Lee et al, 1996;Kullberg et al, 2002a), fish (James and Johnston, 1998) and scorpions (Shaffer and Formanowicz, 1996). Further, migratory birds loaded with fuel (Kullberg et al, 1996;Kullberg et al, 2000), birds that increase body mass during incubation (Kullberg et al, 2002b) and moulting birds with reduced wing areas (Swaddle and Witter, 1997;Swaddle et al, 1999) show similar limitations in escape performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Impaired escape flight ability in butterflies due to low flight muscle ratio prior to hibernation

Almbro

Kullberg

2008

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYFor an animal to escape an attacking predator, speed and manoeuvrability are likely to be crucial factors. Previous studies on reptiles and birds have revealed that gaining weight, due to for instance egg load or lipid accumulation, leads to impaired escape ability and possibly increases the risk of being caught by predators. Here we tested whether the flight performance of an insect, the small tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae), is affected by variations in body mass due to feeding by comparing flight performance parameters between individuals that (i) took flight spontaneously or after being subjected to a simulated predator attack and (ii) varied in flight muscle ratio (FMR: thorax mass/total body mass). The results show that butterflies that were subjected to a simulated predator attack flew at higher velocities and straighter than butterflies that were allowed to take off spontaneously. Furthermore, our study suggests, for the first time, that butterflies may experience impaired escape ability after feeding, which directly leads to a decrease in FMR; a reduction from 0.5 to 0.3 reduced escape flight velocity by about 37% at 0.5·m from the start. Finally, this study shows that FMR affects take-off angle and sinuosity, with steeper angles and more turning in butterflies with low FMR.

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Impaired flight ability during incubation in the pied flycatcher

Cited by 56 publications

References 32 publications

Immediate and delayed effects of growth conditions on ageing parameters in nestling zebra finches

Immediate and delayed effects of growth conditions on ageing parameters in nestling zebra finches

Contrasting effects of reduced incubation cost on clutch attendance by male and female European starlings

Impaired escape flight ability in butterflies due to low flight muscle ratio prior to hibernation

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