Organizing effects of adverse early-life condition on body mass, compensatory growth and reproduction: experimental studies in rock pigeons

Early-life food conditions can have profound impact on adult behavioural performance. In song birds, early-life food conditions affect adult physiology and cognitive performance such as song learning and spatial learning. However, effects on reproductive behaviour other than song, such as visual courtship display, pair formation, and egg laying, which are all important determinants of fitness, received hardly any attention. In this study, rock pigeons Columba livia were raised either in a food ad-libitum or at impoverished (quality) and restricted (quantity) food conditions, in which the latter was applied for either 26 or 8 d after hatching and in slightly different severity. Their growth and reproductive behaviour in adulthood was analysed under semi-natural conditions. Impoverished and restricted food (IRF) negatively affected adult body mass, pair-bonding behaviour, courtship (males) and being courted (females), and induced incomplete compensatory growth. Further analyses suggest th...

生命早期的食物供给状况，可对成年个体的行为表现产生深远影响。对于鸣禽而言，生命早期的食物条件会影响其成年后的生理状态与认知能力，例如鸣唱学习与空间学习能力。然而，学界针对鸣禽除鸣唱外的繁殖行为所受影响的研究却极为匮乏——此类行为包括视觉求偶展示、配偶配对与产卵，均为个体适合度（fitness）的关键决定因素。本研究以原鸽（Columba livia）为实验动物，将其分为三类饲养模式：一组为自由采食组，另外两组均处于食物质量匮乏且数量受限的饲养条件，且这两组的处理时长分别为孵化后26天与8天，处理强度存在细微差异。研究人员在半自然环境中，对这些原鸽成年后的生长情况与繁殖行为展开了分析。结果显示，食物质量匮乏与数量受限（Impoverished and Restricted Food, IRF）处理会对成年个体的体重、配偶联结行为、雄性求偶行为与雌性被求偶行为产生负面影响，并诱导不完全补偿性生长。进一步的分析结果表明……