Meeting Abstract

S2.1-1  Saturday, Jan. 4 08:00  Effects of developmental stress on a suite of physiological and behavioural traits in the zebra finch. CAREAU, V; BUTTEMER, WA; BUCHANAN, KL*; Deakin University; Deakin University; Deakin University kate.buchanan@deakin.edu.au

Developmental pathways are shaped by evolution and may lead to defined suites of metabolic, behavioural, and life-history traits. Recent data suggest that experiencing poor environmental conditions in early life programs a developmental pathway which allows individuals to prioritise short-term fitness benefits and maximise their reproductive output in challenging environments. Such fine-tuning towards a “faster” life-history strategy should be accompanied by concordant changes in metabolism and behaviour. We investigate this by examining how early developmental stress affects a variety of metabolic and behavioural traits in the zebra finch. We predict that: i) individuals subjected to nutritional restriction in the nestling phase will have higher metabolic rates and associated feeding rates and activity levels, ii) nutritional restriction in early life will alter adult stress-induced corticosterone levels, and iii) developmental stress will respectively increase and decrease the amount of among- and within-individual variation in behavioural and physiological traits, hence affecting the repeatability of these traits. Our study has implications for better understanding the degree of developmental plasticity of species-level behavioural and physiological traits in a changing world. We suggest the possibility of an adaptive ontogenetic coupling among developmental plasticities of metabolism and behaviour, such that individuals behave consistently with the life-history trajectory they adopted in response to early-life conditions.