Early‐life telomere length predicts life‐history strategy and reproductive senescence in a threatened wild songbird

Telomeres are well known for their associations with lifespan and ageing across diverse taxa. Early‐life telomere length can be influenced by developmental conditions and has been shown positively affect lifetime reproductive success in a limited number of studies. Whether these effects are caused b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2023-07, Vol.32 (14), p.4031-4043
Main Authors: Morland, Fay, Ewen, John G., Simons, Mirre J. P., Brekke, Patricia, Hemmings, Nicola
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Animal reproduction
Animals
Breeding success
Clutch size
Female
Females
fitness
Hatching
Life history
Life span
Longevity
Original
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Passeriformes
Reproduction
Reproduction - genetics
Reproductive fitness
Senescence
Songbirds
Songbirds - genetics
Success
Telomere - genetics
Telomere Shortening - genetics
Telomeres
Threatened species
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Summary:Telomeres are well known for their associations with lifespan and ageing across diverse taxa. Early‐life telomere length can be influenced by developmental conditions and has been shown positively affect lifetime reproductive success in a limited number of studies. Whether these effects are caused by a change in lifespan, reproductive rate or perhaps most importantly reproductive senescence is unclear. Using long‐term data on female breeding success from a threatened songbird (the hihi, Notiomystis cincta), we show that the early‐life telomere length of individuals predicts the presence and rate of future senescence of key reproductive traits: clutch size and hatching success. In contrast, senescence of fledging success is not associated with early‐life telomere length, which may be due to the added influence of biparental care at this stage. Early‐life telomere length does not predict lifespan or lifetime reproductive success in this species. Females may therefore change their reproductive allocation strategy depending on their early developmental conditions, which we hypothesise are reflected in their early‐life telomere length. Our results offer new insights on the role that telomeres play in reproductive senescence and individual fitness and suggest telomere length can be used as a predictor for future life history in threatened species.
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/mec.16981