Early development, recruitment and life history trajectory in long-lived birds

Abstract

International audienceLindström (in Trends Ecol Evol 14:343-347, 1999) synthesized knowledge about "early development and fitness in birds and mammals", interesting tracks and challenges for future studies. Today, there is unambiguous evidence that Lindström's first statement holds in long-lived birds: "It is obvious that adverse environmental conditions might have immediate effects [...]." However, whether there are "long-term fitness consequences of conditions experienced during early development" (Lindström's second statement) is unclear for long-lived birds. The extent to which the disadvantage of frail individuals at independence is expressed predominantly in terms of higher mortality and disappearance from the population before recruitment, or persists after recruitment, is still an open question. Due to the rarity of relevant data and the fact that most studies are retrospective, heterogeneity in methods and timescales hampers the identification of general patterns. Nevertheless, several studies have provided evidence of a relationship between early conditions and future reproductive parameters, or lifetime reproductive success. Evidence from large mammals suggests substantial long-term individual and population effects of early conditions, including trans-generational maternal effects. Evidence from short-lived birds also suggests long-term individual consequences, and maternal effects have been documented in long-lived ones. Despite logistical and financial difficulties inherent in long-term studies, they are the only way of addressing Lindström's second statement. Existing long-term longitudinal datasets should be re-analyzed using recently developed capture-mark-recapture models handling state uncertainty and unobservable heterogeneity in populations. Statistical methods designed to estimate lifetime reproductive success or incorporate pedigree information in standard situations of studies of wild vertebrates with imperfect detection offer new opportunities to assess long-term fitness consequences of early development in long-lived birds

Food availability affects onset of reproduction in a long-lived seabird

“…However, it is still unclear whether the difference between breeders and nonbreeders is because of intrinsic quality of birds ('individual quality hypothesis') [22]-which can be determined by nutritional histories of individuals during development (at least partially addressed in this study), genetic/epigenetic factors or arise from learned behaviour-or reflects dynamic accumulation of fitness differences [61]. Although this is an important question, long-term monitoring programmes are needed to address it, preferably those focusing on complete reproductive histories and longevity of individuals, multi-generational effects and considering migrants from other colonies.…”

“…Although understanding reproductive dynamics is central for understanding the basic and applied ecology of long-lived seabirds, we still have limited knowledge about factors affecting age at recruitment, reproductive effort and nesting habitat selection [20,21]. In particular, whether early conditions have long-term consequences on life-history strategies remains ambiguous [22], in part, because of few longitudinal studies with the power to examine these issues (studies investigating the interaction between developmental and adult environments [9]). …”

Can river management improve the piping plover’s long-term survival on the Missouri River?

“…The period of animal development prior to maturity can have important effects on an individual's fitness (Cam and Aubry, 2011;Cam et al, 2003;Desai and Hales, 1997;DuRant et al, 2013;Lindström, 1999;Metcalfe and Monaghan, 2001). The environmental conditions experienced at these early life stages may affect growth and survival prior to independence (Burness et al, 2000;de Kogel, 1997;Gebhardt-Henrich and Richner, 1998;Green and Cockburn, 2001;Haywood and Perrins, 1992), adult phenotype (Boag, 1987;de Kogel, 1997;de Kogel and Prijs, 1996), survival prior to recruitment as a breeder (Cam et al, 2003;Magrath, 1991), age at recruitment (Cam et al, 2003), reproductive fitness (Haywood and Perrins, 1992;Schluter and Gustafsson, 1993), and even adult survival (Albon et al, 1987).…”

Natal territory size, group size, and body mass affect lifetime fitness in the cooperatively breeding Florida Scrub-Jay

“…Poor-quality natal environments frequently have negative short-term effects on fitness components such as juvenile body condition and juvenile survival (Magrath 1991, van der Jeugd and Larsson 1998, van de Pol et al 2006. In recent years, however, a growing body of literature has indicated that favorable conditions in the natal environment can have significant long-term fitness benefits (Lindström 1999, Cam andAubry 2011). These delayed ''silver spoon'' effects (Grafen 1988) are manifested in later life stages and can affect an array of fitness components, including dispersal and habitat selection (Stamps 2006, van de Pol et al 2006, Tilgar et al 2010, Tarwater and Beissinger 2012, phenotypic characters under sexual selection (Scandolara et al 2014), clutch and litter size (Tilgar et al 2010, Rödel et al 2009), and lifetime reproductive performance (Cam et al 2003).…”