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Oxidative stress physiology in relation to life history traits of a free-living vertebrate: the spotted snow skink, Niveoscincus ocellatus

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 06:39 authored by Isaksson, C, Geoffrey WhileGeoffrey While, Olsson, M, Komdeur, J, Erik WapstraErik Wapstra
Recent research suggests that oxidative stress, via its links to metabolism and senescence, is a key mechanism linking life history traits such as fecundity and growth with survival; however, this has rarely been put under empirical scrutiny within free-living populations. Using a wild population of live-bearing skinks, we explored how plasma antioxidant activity (OXY), reactive oxidative metabolites (ROM), and the estimated oxidative stress index are associated with female and male life history. We found that male skinks have a significantly higher ROM and estimated oxidative stress index than female skinks, but this was not accompanied by a sex difference in mortality. Both sexes showed a non-linear association between OXY and age, indicating that the oldest and youngest indi- viduals had the lowest OXY. Interestingly, female skinks with high OXY showed a decreased probability of sur- vival to the following season. However, we found no significant associations between female reproductive invest- ment (litter size or litter mass) or parturition date (i.e. metabolism) and oxidative status. Combined, our results offer mixed support for a role of oxidative stress in mediating life history traits and suggest that future studies need to explore oxidative stress during vitellogenesis in addition to using an intra-individual approach to understand the cost of reproduction and patterns of aging.

History

Publication title

Integrative Zoology

Volume

6

Pagination

140-149

ISSN

1749-4877

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

The definitive published version is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems

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