Arriero Elena, Fargallo Juan Antonio
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, Madrid 28006, Spain.
Naturwissenschaften. 2006 Apr;93(4):173-80. doi: 10.1007/s00114-006-0090-5. Epub 2006 Mar 1.
We investigated how the expression of carotenoid-based plumage coloration (lightness and chroma) in nestling blue tits Parus caeruleus is associated with forest structure in oak forests of central Spain. We found evidence of a reduced expression of carotenoid-based coloration in nestlings growing up in successionally young and structurally simple forest territories. Our results suggest that breast feather coloration can be used as an indicator of nestling quality because nestlings with more intense yellow plumage coloration had larger body size and stronger immune responses to the injection of phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Given the association of forest structural complexity with carotenoid-based plumage coloration, our findings suggest that variation in habitat structure may have a significant impact on forest birds in their first stages of life which has implications for forest management practices.
我们研究了西班牙中部橡树林中，蓝山雀雏鸟基于类胡萝卜素的羽毛颜色（亮度和色度）表达如何与森林结构相关联。我们发现，在演替初期且结构简单的森林区域中成长的雏鸟，基于类胡萝卜素的颜色表达有所减少。我们的研究结果表明，胸部羽毛颜色可作为雏鸟质量的指标，因为羽毛颜色更黄的雏鸟体型更大，对注射植物血凝素（PHA）的免疫反应更强。鉴于森林结构复杂性与基于类胡萝卜素的羽毛颜色之间的关联，我们的研究结果表明，栖息地结构的变化可能会对森林鸟类的幼年期产生重大影响，这对森林管理实践具有启示意义。
