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Research Article
Interplays between pre- and post-natal environments affect early-life mortality, body mass and telomere dynamics in the wild
Tiia Kärkkäinen, Pauliina Teerikorpi, Wiebke Schuett, Antoine Stier, Toni Laaksonen
Journal of Experimental Biology 2021 224: jeb231290 doi: 10.1242/jeb.231290 Published 6 January 2021
Tiia Kärkkäinen
1Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
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  • ORCID record for Tiia Kärkkäinen
  • For correspondence: tmakark@gmail.com
Pauliina Teerikorpi
1Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
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Wiebke Schuett
2School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, United Kingdom
3Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, Universität Hamburg, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
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Antoine Stier
1Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
4Collage of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
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Toni Laaksonen
1Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
5Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), 20520 Turku, Finland
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ABSTRACT

Early-life conditions are crucial determinants of phenotype and fitness. The effects of pre- and post-natal conditions on fitness prospects have been widely studied but their interactive effects have received less attention. In birds, asynchronous hatching creates challenging developmental conditions for the last-hatched chicks, but differential allocation in last-laid eggs might help to compensate this initial handicap. The relative importance and potential interaction between pre- and post-hatching developmental conditions for different fitness components remains mostly unknown. We manipulated hatching order in wild pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca), creating three groups: natural asynchrony (last-laid eggs hatching last), reversed asynchrony (last-laid eggs hatching first) and hatching synchrony (all eggs hatching at once). We examined the effects of these manipulations on early-life survival, growth and telomere length, a potential cellular biomarker of fitness prospects. Mortality was mostly affected by hatching order, with last-hatched chicks being more likely to die. Early-life telomere dynamics and growth were influenced by the interplays between laying and hatching order. Last-laid but first-hatched chicks were heavier but had shorter telomeres 5 days after hatching than their siblings, indicating rapid early growth with potential adverse consequences on telomere length. Synchronous chicks did not suffer any apparent cost of hatching synchronously. Impaired phenotypes only occurred when reversing the natural hatching order (i.e. developmental mismatch), suggesting that maternal investment in last-laid eggs might indeed counterbalance the initial handicap of last-hatched chicks. Our experimental study thus highlights that potential interplays between pre- and post-natal environments are likely to shape fitness prospects in the wild.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Author contributions

    Conceptualization: T.K., P.T., W.S., A.S., T.L.; Methodology: T.K., P.T., W.S., A.S., T.L.; Validation: A.S., T.K.; Formal analysis: T.K., T.L.; Investigation: T.K., P.T., W.S.; Resources: T.K., W.S., T.L.; Data curation: T.K.; Writing - original draft: T.K., A.S.; Writing - review & editing: T.K., P.T., W.S., A.S., T.L.; Supervision: A.S., T.L.; Funding acquisition: T.K., A.S.

  • Funding

    The study was financially supported by Societas Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, The Kuopio Naturalists Society, Finnish Cultural Foundation Varsinais-Suomi regional fund, Turku University Foundation (grants to T.K.), and the Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine (grant to A.S.).

  • Data availability

    Data used in this study are available in Figshare at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13055996.v1.

  • Received June 15, 2020.
  • Accepted November 16, 2020.
  • © 2021. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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Keywords

  • Ageing
  • Bird
  • Developmental mismatch
  • Fitness
  • Hatching asynchrony
  • Maternal allocation

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Research Article
Interplays between pre- and post-natal environments affect early-life mortality, body mass and telomere dynamics in the wild
Tiia Kärkkäinen, Pauliina Teerikorpi, Wiebke Schuett, Antoine Stier, Toni Laaksonen
Journal of Experimental Biology 2021 224: jeb231290 doi: 10.1242/jeb.231290 Published 6 January 2021
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Research Article
Interplays between pre- and post-natal environments affect early-life mortality, body mass and telomere dynamics in the wild
Tiia Kärkkäinen, Pauliina Teerikorpi, Wiebke Schuett, Antoine Stier, Toni Laaksonen
Journal of Experimental Biology 2021 224: jeb231290 doi: 10.1242/jeb.231290 Published 6 January 2021

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