Dissertation Research: Antioxidant physiology, alternative reproductive strategies, and the information content of pigment based ornaments: A life history perspective

男性的顺从会影响他们是否能获得配偶。考虑到装饰品是生理上昂贵的表达，精心制作的装饰品可能仅限于个人在良好的条件，提供一个？诚实吗给女性的质量信号。 然而，这并不总是正确的，因为男性可能不得不在不同的因素之间分配资源，如自我约束与自我维持或父母照顾。这项拟议中的研究试图将性装饰品理解为生活史投资，其发展可能会与其他替代品进行权衡。 具体而言，抗氧化能力的分配可能会调解吸引力和自我维护之间的权衡，这种权衡的平衡取决于生活史。 当抗氧化能力被通过身体活动或免疫反应产生的促氧化剂所压倒时，就会发生氧化应激，这可能导致衰老和疾病的发生。表达类胡萝卜素和黑色素为基础的色素装饰可能会增加交配成功率，但也消耗抗氧化能力的分子，并加剧昂贵的竞争配偶，潜在地提高氧化应激和抑制生存和父母的表现。 这项研究将：（1）采用纵向取样来探索表达色素是否会增加加州黄莺（Setophaga petechia brewsteri）的氧化应激并降低其亲本表现;（2）采用比较方法来探索墨西哥黄莺、红树林黄莺亚种的色素是否与氧化应激有不同的相关性。瘀点（S. p. bryanti），其显示出“慢”生活史（长生存期、小窝卵数、非迁移性），而在“快”生活的加州莺中。 红树林莺预测显示更大的“诚实”的信号氧化状态，由于更大的生存价值。从生命史的角度来看，这项工作为理解性信号系统的复杂性提供了一个新的概念框架。 更广泛的影响包括了解影响特别关注物种繁殖成功的因素，并与墨西哥研究人员进行合作。

Male ornamentation influence whether or not they gain access to mates. Given that ornaments are physiologically costly to express, elaborate ornaments may be restricted to individuals in good condition, providing an ?honest? signal of quality to females. However this may not always be true, as males may have to allocate resources between different factors such as ornamentation versus self-maintenance or parental care. The proposed research seeks to understand sexual ornaments as life history investments, whose development may tradeoff against other alternatives. Specifically, allocation of antioxidant capacity may mediate a tradeoff between attractiveness and self-maintenance, with balance of this tradeoff depending on life history. Oxidative stress occurs when antioxidant capacity is overwhelmed by the production of pro-oxidants through physical activity or immune response, which can then lead to onset of aging and diseases. Expressing carotenoid and melanin-based pigmented ornaments may increase mating success, but also consume molecules with antioxidant capacity and intensify expensive contests over mates, potentially elevating oxidative stress and suppressing survival and parental performance. This research will: (1) employ longitudinal sampling to explore whether expressing pigmentation increases oxidative stress and reduces parental performance in California yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia brewsteri); and (2) use a comparative approach to explore if pigmentation correlates differently with oxidative stress in the Mexican, mangrove warbler subspecies of S. petechia (S. p. bryanti), which displays a "slow' life history (long survival, small clutch size, non-migratory) versus in "fast" lived California warblers. Mangrove warblers are predicted to display greater "honesty" in signaling oxidative status, due to greater value of survivorship. By taking a life history perspective, this work provides a novel conceptual framework for understanding complexities of sexual signaling systems. Broader impacts include understanding factors influencing reproductive success in a Species of Special Concern and forging collaboration with Mexican researchers.