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Fatty acid profiles of great tit (Parus major) eggs differ between urban and rural habitats, but not between coniferous and deciduous forests

Fatty acid profiles of great tit (Parus major) eggs differ between urban and rural habitats, but not between coniferous and deciduous forests
Fatty acid profiles of great tit (Parus major) eggs differ between urban and rural habitats, but not between coniferous and deciduous forests
Early-life nutrition is an important determinant of both short- and long-term performance and fitness. The avian embryo develops within an enclosed package of nutrients, of which fatty acids (FA) are essential for many aspects of development. FA composition of yolk depends on maternal nutrition and condition prior to egg formation, which may be affected by the external environment. To test if maternal environment affects yolk FA composition, we investigated whether FA composition of great tit Parus major) egg yolks differed between urban and rural habitats, and between deciduous and coniferous habitats. The results reveal differences in FA composition between eggs laid in urban and rural habitats, but not between eggs from the coniferous and deciduous habitats. To a large extent, this difference likely reflects dietary differences associated with urban habitats rather than dominating vegetation type.
Specifically, urban yolks contained lower proportions of both ?-3 and ?-6 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA), which are important for chick development. We also found a positive association between the proportion of saturated fatty acids and laying date, and a negative association between the proportion of ?-6 PUFA and clutch size. Given that urbanization is expanding rapidly, future studies should investigate whether factors such as anthropogenic food in the urban environment underlie these differences and whether they impair chick development.
1-33
Toledo, Alejandra
2975768b-46a6-44e3-945a-98f746a58813
Andersson, Martin N
fdd495fb-a289-4466-9237-ed3659292823
Wang, Hong-Lei
2691632e-9bb2-4875-8c1e-a276ec4c1bcc
Salmon, Pablo
02dfc6ae-f4fd-4ae9-8f73-90c59edd1819
Watson, Hannah
ed644e2f-2ff9-45d6-9a41-43717d1fad9f
Burdge, Graham C.
09d60a07-8ca1-4351-9bf1-de6ffcfb2159
Isaksson, Caroline
98a676f3-06e2-4074-9b6f-6640861228b2
Toledo, Alejandra
2975768b-46a6-44e3-945a-98f746a58813
Andersson, Martin N
fdd495fb-a289-4466-9237-ed3659292823
Wang, Hong-Lei
2691632e-9bb2-4875-8c1e-a276ec4c1bcc
Salmon, Pablo
02dfc6ae-f4fd-4ae9-8f73-90c59edd1819
Watson, Hannah
ed644e2f-2ff9-45d6-9a41-43717d1fad9f
Burdge, Graham C.
09d60a07-8ca1-4351-9bf1-de6ffcfb2159
Isaksson, Caroline
98a676f3-06e2-4074-9b6f-6640861228b2

Toledo, Alejandra, Andersson, Martin N, Wang, Hong-Lei, Salmon, Pablo, Watson, Hannah, Burdge, Graham C. and Isaksson, Caroline (2016) Fatty acid profiles of great tit (Parus major) eggs differ between urban and rural habitats, but not between coniferous and deciduous forests. The Science of Nature, 1-33. (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Early-life nutrition is an important determinant of both short- and long-term performance and fitness. The avian embryo develops within an enclosed package of nutrients, of which fatty acids (FA) are essential for many aspects of development. FA composition of yolk depends on maternal nutrition and condition prior to egg formation, which may be affected by the external environment. To test if maternal environment affects yolk FA composition, we investigated whether FA composition of great tit Parus major) egg yolks differed between urban and rural habitats, and between deciduous and coniferous habitats. The results reveal differences in FA composition between eggs laid in urban and rural habitats, but not between eggs from the coniferous and deciduous habitats. To a large extent, this difference likely reflects dietary differences associated with urban habitats rather than dominating vegetation type.
Specifically, urban yolks contained lower proportions of both ?-3 and ?-6 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA), which are important for chick development. We also found a positive association between the proportion of saturated fatty acids and laying date, and a negative association between the proportion of ?-6 PUFA and clutch size. Given that urbanization is expanding rapidly, future studies should investigate whether factors such as anthropogenic food in the urban environment underlie these differences and whether they impair chick development.

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Accepted/In Press date: 3 June 2016
Organisations: Faculty of Medicine

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 396517
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/396517
PURE UUID: b1f36b9d-9857-499a-967d-da8ea32086e2
ORCID for Graham C. Burdge: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7665-2967

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Date deposited: 10 Jun 2016 10:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:38

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Contributors

Author: Alejandra Toledo
Author: Martin N Andersson
Author: Hong-Lei Wang
Author: Pablo Salmon
Author: Hannah Watson
Author: Caroline Isaksson

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