“Silver-spoon” natal conditions increase early-life fitness but accelerate reproductive ageing in a wild bird

• Early-life conditions can have long-lasting effects and organisms that experience a poor start in life are often expected to age at a faster rate. Alternatively, individuals raised in high-quality environments can overinvest in early-reproduction resulting in rapid ageing. Here we use long-term experimental manipulation of early-life conditions in a natural population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), to show that females raised in a low-competition environment have higher early-life reproduction but lower late-life reproduction than females raised in high-competition environment. We experimentally created either artificially increased (high-competition) or reduced (low-competition) broods. Reproductive success of high-competition females peaked in late-life, when low-competition females were already in steep reproductive decline and suffered from higher mortality rate. Our results demonstrate that “silver spoon” effects can increase female early-life performance at the cost of faster reproductive ageing and increased late-life mortality. These findings support the evolutionary theory of ageing and show that early-life environmental conditions shape reproductive and demographic ageing in nature.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Evolutionsbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Evolutionary Biology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Biologi med inriktning mot zooekologi

Biology with specialization in Animal Ecology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)