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Research article2021Peer reviewed

Contrasting associations between nestling telomere length and pre and postnatal helpers' presence in a cooperatively breeding bird

Quque, Martin; Paquet, Matthieu; Zahn, Sandrine; Theron, Frank; Faivre, Bruno; Sueur, Cedric; Criscuolo, Francois; Doutrelant, Claire; Covas, Rita

Abstract

Studies on cooperative breeders have addressed the effects of non-breeding 'helpers' on reproduction and parental care, but the consequences for offspring physiology and long-term survival are less understood. Helpers are expected to benefit offspring, but their presence can also lead to decreased pre- or post-natal parental reproductive effort. To examine whether prenatal and postnatal helpers influence offspring condition, we conducted a whole-clutch cross-fostering experiment in sociable weavers (Philetairus socius) that altered the nestlings' social environment (presence/absence of helpers). We tested whether relative telomere length (rTL), an indicator of somatic maintenance, was influenced by prenatal and/or postnatal presence of helpers 9 and 17 days after hatching, and whether rTL predicted long-term survival. Nine days after hatching, we found an overall positive effect of postnatal helpers on rTL: for nestlings with prenatal helpers, a reduction in the number of helpers post-hatch was associated with shorter telomeres, while nestlings swapped from nests without helpers to nests with helpers had a larger rTL. However, when prenatal helpers were present, an increased number of helpers after hatching led to shorter telomeres. Nine-day old chicks with longer rTL tended to be more likely to survive over the 5 years following hatching. However, close to fledging, there was no detectable effect of the experiment on rTL and no link between rTL and survival. This experimental study of a wild cooperative breeder, therefore, presents partial support for the importance of the presence of helpers for offspring rTL and the link between early-life telomere length and long-term survival.

Keywords

Sociable weaver; Cross-fostering; Offspring; Early environment; Survival

Published in

Oecologia
2021, Volume: 196, number: 1, pages: 37-51 Publisher: SPRINGER

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Ecology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04917-8

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/111744