A physiological signature of the cost of reproduction associated with parental care

Costs of reproduction are an integral and long-standing component of life-history theory, but we still know relatively little about the specific physiological mechanisms underlying these trade-offs. We experimentally manipulated workload during parental care in female European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) using attachment of radios and/or wing clipping and assessed measures of workload, current breeding productivity, future fecundity, and survival (local return rate) in relation to treatment. Females with wing clipping and radio attachment paid a clear cost of reproduction compared with all other treatment groups: they had lower future fecundity and lower return rates despite having lower current breeding productivity. We then measured 13 physiological traits, including measures of aerobic/metabolic capacity, oxidative stress and muscle damage, intermediary metabolism and energy supply, and immune function. Our results show that the cost of reproduction in females with wing clipping and...繁殖代价是生活史理论（life-history theory）中不可或缺且历史悠久的核心组成部分，但目前我们对这些权衡关系背后的具体生理机制仍了解有限。本研究以雌性欧椋鸟（Sturnus vulgaris）为研究对象，通过为其佩戴无线电追踪装置和/或进行剪翅操作，对育雏期间的工作量实施了实验操控，并评估了不同处理组对应的工作量、当前繁殖生产力、未来繁殖力以及存活率（本地回迁率）相关指标。结果显示，与其余所有处理组相比，接受剪翅与无线电追踪装置佩戴联合处理的雌性个体呈现出明确的繁殖代价：尽管其当前繁殖生产力更低，但未来繁殖力与本地回迁率均显著下降。随后我们测定了13项生理指标，涵盖有氧/代谢能力、氧化应激与肌肉损伤、中间代谢与能量供应以及免疫功能等维度。我们的研究结果表明，接受剪翅处理并佩戴无线电追踪装置的雌性个体，其繁殖代价……