Sex-dependent effects of parental age on offspring fitness in a cooperatively breeding bird

Parental age can have considerable effects on offspring phenotypes and health. However, intergenerational effects may also have longer-term effects on offspring fitness. Few studies have investigated parental age effects on offspring fitness in natural populations while also testing for sex- and environment-specific effects. Further, longitudinal parental age effects may be masked by population-level processes such as the selective disappearance of poor-quality individuals. Here, we used multi-generational data collected on individually marked Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) to investigate the impact of maternal and paternal age on offspring lifespan and lifetime reproductive success. We found negative effects of maternal age on female offspring lifespan and lifetime reproductive success, which were driven by within-mother effects. There was no difference in annual reproductive output of females born to older versus younger mothers, suggesting that the differences in off...

亲本年龄（parental age）可对子代表型与健康产生显著影响。然而，代际效应（intergenerational effects）还可能对子代适合度（offspring fitness）产生更为长期的影响。迄今鲜有研究在自然种群中探究亲本年龄对子代适合度的影响，同时检验性别特异性与环境特异性效应。此外，种群水平的过程（如低质量个体的选择性消亡）可能掩盖纵向亲本年龄效应。本研究以经个体标记的塞舌尔莺（Acrocephalus sechellensis）的多代采集数据为基础，探究母本与父本年龄对子代寿命及终身繁殖成功率的影响。研究发现，母本年龄对雌性子代的寿命与终身繁殖成功率存在负向效应，且该效应由母本内效应驱动。相较于年长母本所育雌性，年轻母本所育雌性的年度繁殖产出并无差异，这表明子代在...