State-dependent life histories

McNamara, John M.; Houston, Alasdair I.

doi:10.1038/380215a0

Cited by 764 publications

(579 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Given the importance of individual variation in optimizing life histories (McNamara and Houston, 1996;Piersma and Drent, 2003), our results are important in demonstrating that individual variation in hormone levels is correlated with parental effort by adult mourning doves. We found that individual variation in both BL CORT and BL PRL levels was positively correlated to parental effort early in the nestling period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…During reproduction, individuals must balance investment in current and future reproduction (Williams, 1966) and are likely to vary their reproductive effort in response to their current state, environmental conditions, and future opportunities (McNamara and Houston, 1996). Endocrine systems have the potential to play an important role in orchestrating decisions to optimize life-history decisions by assimilating input regarding current conditions and adjusting physiology and behavior to optimize investment (Finch and Rose, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone and prolactin levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves

Miller

Vleck

Otis

2009

Hormones and Behavior

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Endocrine systems have an important mechanistic role in structuring life-history trade-offs. During breeding, individual variation in prolactin (PRL) and corticosterone (CORT) levels affects behavioral and physiological processes that drive trade-offs between reproduction and self-maintenance. We examined patterns in baseline (BL) and stress induced (SI; level following a standard capture-restraint protocol) levels of PRL and CORT for breeding mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). We determined whether the relationship of adult condition and parental effort to hormone levels in wild birds was consistent with life-history predictions. Both BL PRL and BL CORT level in adults were positively related to nestling weight at early nestling ages, consistent with the prediction of a positive relationship of hormone levels to current parental effort of adults and associated increased energy demand. Results are consistent with the two hormones acting together at baseline levels to limit negative effects of CORT on reproduction while maintaining beneficial effects such as increased foraging for nestling feeding. Our data did not support predictions that SI responses would vary in response to nestling or adult condition. The magnitude of CORT response in the parents to our capture-restraint protocol was negatively correlated with subsequent parental effort. Average nestling weights for adults with the highest SI CORT response were on average 10-15% lighter than expected for their age in follow-up visits after the stress event. Our results demonstrated a relationship between individual hormone levels and within population variation in parental effort and suggested that hormonal control plays an important role in structuring reproductive decisions for mourning doves. RightsWorks produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted. Endocrine systems have an important mechanistic role in structuring life-history trade-offs. During breeding, individual variation in prolactin (PRL) and corticosterone (CORT) levels affects behavioral and physiological processes that drive trade-offs between reproduction and self-maintenance. We examined patterns in baseline (BL) and stress induced (SI; level following a standard capture-restraint protocol) levels of PRL and CORT for breeding mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). We determined whether the relationship of adult condition and parental effort to hormone levels in wild birds was consistent with life-history predictions. Both BL PRL and BL CORT level in adults were positively related to nestling weight at early nestling ages, consistent with the prediction of a positive relationship of hormone levels to current parental effort of adults and associated increased energy demand. Results are consistent with the two hormones acting together at baseline levels to limit negative effects of CORT on reproduction while maintaining beneficial effects such as increased foraging for nestli...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone and prolactin levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves

Miller

Vleck

Otis

2009

Hormones and Behavior

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“…Thus, “chronologically young” individuals could be considered “biologically old” and also senesce. Differences in state arise as a result of different life‐history strategies and environmental conditions, generating differences in damage accumulation rates between individuals (McNamara & Houston, 1996; McNamara et al., 2009), and thus potential differences in age at onset and rates of senescence. For example, if reproduction leads to increased damage accumulation, fast reproducing individuals effectively bring forward their own death (McNamara et al., 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age, state, environment, and season dependence of senescence in body mass

Kroeger

Blumstein

Armitage

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Senescence is a highly variable process that comprises both age‐dependent and state‐dependent components and can be greatly affected by environmental conditions. However, few studies have quantified the magnitude of age‐dependent and state‐dependent senescence in key life‐history traits across individuals inhabiting different spatially structured and seasonal environments. We used longitudinal data from wild female yellow‐bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer), living in two adjacent environments that differ in elevation and associated phenology, to quantify how age and individual state, measured as “time to death,” affect body mass senescence in different environments. Further, we quantified how patterns of senescence differed between two biologically distinct seasons, spring, and late summer. Body mass senescence had an age‐dependent component, expressed as a decrease in mass in old age. Overall, estimated age‐dependent senescence was greater in females living in the more favorable lower elevation environment, than in the harsher higher elevation environment, and greater in late summer than in spring. Body mass senescence also had a state‐dependent component, captured by effects of time to death, but only in the more favorable lower elevation environment. In spring, body mass gradually decreased from 2 years before death, whereas in late summer, state‐dependent effects were expressed as a terminal decrease in body mass in the last year of life. Contrary to expectations, we found that senescence was more likely to be observed under more favorable environmental conditions, rather than under harsher conditions. By further demonstrating that senescence patterns differ among seasons, our results imply that within‐year temporal environmental variation must be considered alongside spatial environmental variation in order to characterize and understand the pattern and magnitude of senescence in wild populations.

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“…It is well established that the probability to reproduce and breeding success in females is not constant across ontogeny (McNamara & Houston, 1996). In several species, including horses, the relationship between the probability to reproduce or breeding success and female age has a typical bell shape, with prime‐aged females having the highest probabilities (Beauplet, Barbraud, Dabin, Kussener, & Guinet, 2006; Garrott et al., 1991; Rauset et al., 2015; Rughetti, Dematteis, Meneguz, & Festa‐Bianchet, 2015; Tettamanti et al., 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on previous research on other capital breeders, we predicted that costs of reproduction would be greater in poorer quality (Gomendio, Clutton‐Brock, Albon, Guinness, & Simpson, 1990; Hamel, Cote et al., 2009, 2010; Robert et al., 2012) and senescent (Clutton‐Brock, 1984; Hamel, Cote et al., 2010; McNamara & Houston, 1996) females (P1 and P2). We also expected environmental and social factors to modulate the cost of reproduction (Hamel, Cote et al., 2010; Nicolaus et al., 2012; Robert et al., 2012); more specifically, we predicted that the costs of reproduction would increase with winter severity (P3), local conspecific density (P4), and band size (P5).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual quality and age but not environmental or social conditions modulate costs of reproduction in a capital breeder

Debeffe

Poissant

McLoughlin

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Costs associated with reproduction are widely known to play a role in the evolution of reproductive tactics with consequences to population and eco‐evolutionary dynamics. Evaluating these costs as they pertain to species in the wild remains an important goal of evolutionary ecology. Individual heterogeneity, including differences in individual quality (i.e., among‐individual differences in traits associated with survival and reproduction) or state, and variation in environmental and social conditions can modulate the costs of reproduction; however, few studies have considered effects of these factors simultaneously. Taking advantage of a detailed, long‐term dataset for a population of feral horses (Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada), we address the question of how intrinsic (quality, age), environmental (winter severity, location), and social conditions (group size, composition, sex ratio, density) influence the costs of reproduction on subsequent reproduction. Individual quality was measured using a multivariate analysis on a combination of four static and dynamic traits expected to depict heterogeneity in individual performance. Female quality and age interacted with reproductive status of the previous year to determine current reproductive effort, while no effect of social or environmental covariates was found. High‐quality females showed higher probabilities of giving birth and weaning their foal regardless of their reproductive status the previous year, while those of lower quality showed lower probabilities of producing foals in successive years. Middle‐aged (prime) females had the highest probability of giving birth when they had not reproduced the year before, but no such relationship with age was found among females that had reproduced the previous year, indicating that prime‐aged females bear higher costs of reproduction. We show that individual quality and age were key factors modulating the costs of reproduction in a capital breeder but that environmental or social conditions were not, highlighting the importance of considering multiple factors when studying costs of reproduction.

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State-dependent life histories

Cited by 764 publications

References 63 publications

Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone and prolactin levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves

Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone and prolactin levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves

Age, state, environment, and season dependence of senescence in body mass

Individual quality and age but not environmental or social conditions modulate costs of reproduction in a capital breeder

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