Migration and stress during reproduction govern telomere dynamics in a seabird.

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Schultner, Jannik, Moe, Børge, Chastel, Olivier, Bech, Claus, Kitaysky, Alexander S
• Other Authors: Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Anchorage, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim (NTNU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Department of Biology Trondheim (IBI NTNU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; rissa tridactyla
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00960371; https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0889

International audience Changes in telomere length are believed to reflect changes in physiological state and life expectancy in animals. However, much remains unknown about the determinants of telomere dynamics in wild populations, and specifically the influence of conditions during highly mobile life-history stages, for example migration. We tested whether telomere dynamics were associated with migratory behaviour and/or with stress during reproduction in free-living seabirds. We induced short-term stress during reproduction in chick-rearing, black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), tracked winter migration with geolocators and measured telomere length before and after winter migration. We found that time spent at wintering grounds correlated with reduced telomere loss, while stress during reproduction accelerated telomere shortening. Our results suggest that different life-history stages interact to influence telomere length, and that migratory patterns may be important determinants of variation in an individual's telomere dynamics.