Demographic Responses to Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in the Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans).

One of the major challenges in ecological research is the elucidation of physiological mechanisms that underlie the demographic traits of wild animals. We have assessed whether a marker of plasma oxidative stress (TBARS) and plasma haptoglobin (protein of the acute inflammatory phase response) measu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: David Costantini, Aurelie Goutte, Christophe Barbraud, Bruno Faivre, Gabriele Sorci, Henri Weimerskirch, Karine Delord, Olivier Chastel
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015
Subjects:
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Diomedea exulans
Wandering Albatross
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133967
https://doaj.org/article/3cc3a5749bb942ea884e0660285e2d4f
Description
Summary:One of the major challenges in ecological research is the elucidation of physiological mechanisms that underlie the demographic traits of wild animals. We have assessed whether a marker of plasma oxidative stress (TBARS) and plasma haptoglobin (protein of the acute inflammatory phase response) measured at time t predict five demographic parameters (survival rate, return rate to the breeding colony, breeding probability, hatching and fledging success) in sexually mature wandering albatrosses over the next four years (Diomedea exulans) using a five-year individual-based dataset. Non-breeder males, but not females, having higher TBARS at time t had reduced future breeding probabilities; haptoglobin was not related to breeding probability. Neither TBARS nor haptoglobin predicted future hatching or fledging success. Haptoglobin had a marginally positive effect on female survival rate, while TBARS had a marginally negative effect on return rate. Our findings do not support the role for oxidative stress as a constraint of future reproductive success in the albatross. However, our data point to a potential mechanism underlying some aspects of reproductive senescence and survival. Our results also highlight that the study of the consequences of oxidative stress should consider the life-cycle stage of an individual and its reproductive history.

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