Urban environment shortens telomere length in nestling great tits, Parus major

Urban environments are expanding rapidly, and with urbanization come both challenges and opportunities for wildlife. Challenges include combating the anthropogenic disturbances such as light, noise and air pollution and lower availability of natural food sources. The benefits are many, including the availability of anthropogenic food sources, breeding boxes and warmer temperatures. Thus, depending on the context, urbanization can have both positive and negative effects on fitness related traits. It is well known that early-life conditions can have lifelong implications on fitness; little is however known about development in urban environments. We reciprocally cross-fostered urban and rural nestling great tits (Parus major L.) to study how growing up in an urban versus rural habitat affected telomere length (TL)—a suggested biomarker of longevity. We show, for the first time, that growing up in an urban environment significantly shortens TL, independently of natal origin (i.e. urban or ...城市生境正快速扩张，城市化进程在为野生生物带来发展机遇的同时，也使其面临诸多挑战。挑战包括应对光污染、噪声污染与空气污染等人为干扰，以及天然食物资源的匮乏。而益处则颇多，例如人为食物资源可获得性提升、人工巢箱的增设，以及更高的环境温度。因此，因情境而异，城市化对野生生物的适合度相关性状可产生正向或负向影响。学界早已明确，生命早期的环境条件会对个体适合度产生终生影响，但目前针对城市生境中生物发育过程的相关研究仍较为有限。本研究通过对城市与乡村的大山雀（Parus major L.）雏鸟开展双向交叉寄养实验，探究在城市而非乡村生境中成长如何影响端粒长度（telomere length, TL）——一种被视作寿命的生物标志物。本研究首次证实，在城市生境中成长会显著缩短端粒长度，且该效应不受个体出生地（城市或……）的影响。