Meeting Abstract
P1.42 Friday, Jan. 4 : Environmental determination of life-expectancy in long-lived seabirds: an inter-ocean comparison of kittiwake chicks’ responses to stress YOUNG, R. C.*; KITAYSKY, A. S.; SCHULTNER, J.; WELCKER, J.; Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks; Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks; Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology; Norwegian Polar Institute rcyoung@alaska.edu
Black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) breeding in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have different life history parameters. In the Pacific, adults invest in self-maintenance, have lower reproductive output and higher adult survival, indicating a slow-track investment strategy. The opposite is true in the Atlantic: productivity is higher and adults have lower survival: a fast-track strategy. Atlantic kittiwakes are smaller bodied as well, a trait which allometrically aligns with a faster-track life history. We compared chick physiology in the nest to address how physiological patterns early in life might determine differences in adult life history strategies. Chicks were sampled from colonies in both oceans as part of a larger comparative project addressing kittiwake physiology and behavior. Telomeres provide a proximate physiological measure that may establish adult life history patterns at the chick stage by acting as an estimator of lifespan. Telomere lengths early and late in the nestling phase differ by ocean, a potential explanation for differences observed in adult survivals and projected lifespan. The link between cellular markers, like telomeres, and life histories of populations relies on the linking mechanism of physiological stress. We assessed nutritional stress, using corticosterone, and oxidative stress, using several measures. If established, the causal relationship between stress and telomere dynamics will elucidate how life history trajectories are determined and the factors involved. Regional responses to climate change can be predicted more precisely when mechanisms driving individual differences are better understood.
