The relative role of age and experience in determining variation in body mass during the early breeding career of the Common Tern (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Sterna hirundo</Emphasis>) |
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Authors: | Bente Limmer Peter H Becker |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland”, An der Vogelwarte 21, 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany |
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Abstract: | Body mass is a consistent individual trait that characterises the state of adult birds and mammals and is positively related
with long-term reproductive success. However, whether and to what extent body mass changes over lifetime in long-lived birds
is poorly studied. In this paper, we investigate how individual body mass varies with age. Furthermore, we try to separate
possible effects of age and experience on body mass. This study was conducted in a Common Tern colony on the German Wadden
Sea coast. Transponders allowed registration of individuals throughout the breeding season and consecutive years with an antenna
system combined with electronic balances for recording individual body-mass changes within and between years. Individual body
masses of males and females were measured during three stages of the breeding season: at arrival, during incubation and chick
rearing when mass was lowest in both sexes. Individual-based longitudinal analyses clearly showed that body mass during arrival,
incubation and chick rearing increased up to an age of 5 or 6 years. First-time breeders had lower body mass than experienced
breeders. Experience had stronger effects on incubation mass than age. Recruiting age also affected body-mass development
of breeders: Three-year-old recruits showed a stronger increase in mass with experience than 4-year-old recruits. We assume
that increasing experience enables birds to cope better with the physiological challenge of reproduction. To explain the general
phenomenon of higher body mass in older birds, our results support the constraint hypothesis rather than either the selection
or restraint hypothesis. |
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Keywords: | Seabird Incubation mass Chick-rearing mass Breeding experience |
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