Elevation impacts the balance between growth and oxidative stress in coal tits

• Published in: Oecologia 2014-07, Vol.175 (3), p.791-800
• Main Authors: Stier, Antoine, Delestrade, Anne, Zahn, Sandrine, Arrivé, Mathilde, Criscuolo, François, Massemin-Challet, Sylvie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Altitude; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; Aves; Basal Metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body Size; Chickens; Chicks; Coal; DNA Damage; Ecological life histories; Ecology; Environmental Sciences; Evaluation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Growth; Hatching; Hydrology/Water Resources; Life history; Life Sciences; longevity; Metabolism; Oxidative Stress; Oxidizing agents; Paridae; Passeriformes - growth & development; Passeriformes - metabolism; Physiological aspects; PHYSIOLOGICAL ECOLOGY; Physiological ecology - Original research; Plant Sciences; Reactive oxygen species; Resource allocation; resting metabolic rate; Temperature; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
• ISSN: 0029-8549; 1432-1939
• DOI: 10.1007/s00442-014-2946-2

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.