Telomere length correlates with physiological and behavioural responses of a long-lived seabird to an ecologically-relevant challenge

Determinants of individual variation in reallocation of limited resources towards self-maintenance versus reproduction are not well known. We tested the hypothesis that individual heterogeneity in long-term “somatic state” a) explains variation in endocrine and behavioural responses to environmental challenges, and b) is associated with variation in strategies for allocating to self-maintenance versus reproduction. We used relative telomere length as an indicator of somatic state and experimentally generated an abrupt short-term reduction of food availability (withdrawal of food supplementation) for free-living seabirds (Black-legged kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla). Incubating male kittiwakes responded to withdrawal by increasing circulating corticosterone and losing more weight compared to continuously supplemented controls. Males with longer telomeres increased time in directed travel regardless of treatment, while experiencing smaller increases in corticosterone. Males with longer telo...有限资源在自我维持与繁殖间的分配的个体差异的决定因素，目前尚未得到充分阐明。我们检验了如下假说：长期“躯体状态（somatic state）”的个体异质性，(a) 可解释个体对环境挑战的内分泌与行为响应差异，(b) 与自我维持与繁殖间的资源分配策略差异相关。我们以相对端粒长度作为躯体状态的指示指标，并针对自由生活的海鸟——黑腿三趾鸥（Black-legged kittiwakes, *Rissa tridactyla*），通过停止食物补给的方式，实验性地造成了短期的食物可获得性骤降。与持续获得食物补给的对照组相比，正在孵卵的雄性黑腿三趾鸥在停止食物补给后，其循环皮质酮水平升高，且体重下降更多。无论实验处理如何，端粒更长的雄性个体的定向飞行时长均有所增加，同时其皮质酮水平的升高幅度更小。Males with longer telo...