Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age?
In many taxa, reproductive performance increases throughout the lifespan and this may occur in part because older adults invest more in reproduction. The mechanisms that facilitate an increase in reproductive performance with age, however, are poorly understood. In response to stressors, vertebrates...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635515 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901843 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:1635515 2023-05-15T18:27:24+02:00 Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? Heidinger, Britt J Nisbet, Ian C.T Ketterson, Ellen D 2006-06-20 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635515 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901843 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635515 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901843 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 © 2006 The Royal Society Research Article Text 2006 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 2013-08-31T09:56:11Z In many taxa, reproductive performance increases throughout the lifespan and this may occur in part because older adults invest more in reproduction. The mechanisms that facilitate an increase in reproductive performance with age, however, are poorly understood. In response to stressors, vertebrates release glucocorticoids, which enhance survival but concurrently shift investment away from reproduction. Consequently, when the value of current reproduction is high relative to the value of future reproduction and survival, as it is in older adults, life history theory predicts that the stress response should be suppressed. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that older parents would respond less strongly to a stressor in a natural, breeding population of common terns (Sterna hirundo). Common terns are long-lived seabirds and reproductive performance is known to increase throughout the lifespan of this species. As predicted, the maximum level of glucocorticoids released in response to handling stress decreased significantly with age. We suggest that suppression of the stress response may be an important physiological mechanism that facilitates an increase in reproductive performance with age. Text Sterna hirundo PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273 1598 2227 2231 |
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Research Article Heidinger, Britt J Nisbet, Ian C.T Ketterson, Ellen D Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
In many taxa, reproductive performance increases throughout the lifespan and this may occur in part because older adults invest more in reproduction. The mechanisms that facilitate an increase in reproductive performance with age, however, are poorly understood. In response to stressors, vertebrates release glucocorticoids, which enhance survival but concurrently shift investment away from reproduction. Consequently, when the value of current reproduction is high relative to the value of future reproduction and survival, as it is in older adults, life history theory predicts that the stress response should be suppressed. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that older parents would respond less strongly to a stressor in a natural, breeding population of common terns (Sterna hirundo). Common terns are long-lived seabirds and reproductive performance is known to increase throughout the lifespan of this species. As predicted, the maximum level of glucocorticoids released in response to handling stress decreased significantly with age. We suggest that suppression of the stress response may be an important physiological mechanism that facilitates an increase in reproductive performance with age. |
format |
Text |
author |
Heidinger, Britt J Nisbet, Ian C.T Ketterson, Ellen D |
author_facet |
Heidinger, Britt J Nisbet, Ian C.T Ketterson, Ellen D |
author_sort |
Heidinger, Britt J |
title |
Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
title_short |
Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
title_full |
Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
title_fullStr |
Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
title_sort |
older parents are less responsive to a stressor in a long-lived seabird: a mechanism for increased reproductive performance with age? |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635515 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901843 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 |
genre |
Sterna hirundo |
genre_facet |
Sterna hirundo |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635515 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901843 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 |
op_rights |
© 2006 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3557 |
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Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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273 |
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1598 |
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2227 |
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2231 |
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1766209484664864768 |