Departamento de Zoología, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, Edificio Verde, Sevilla, E-41012 Spain.
J Evol Biol. 2012 Nov;25(11):2298-309. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02606.x. Epub 2012 Sep 19.
We investigated differences in ageing patterns in three measures of breeding performance in populations of barn swallows Hirundo rustica L. from Spain and Denmark differing in breeding latitude and hence migration distance and duration of the breeding season. We found differences in ageing patterns between populations. Generally, young (i.e. yearling) and old females (i.e. ≥ 5 years of age) laid their first eggs later and produced smaller clutches than middle-aged females (i.e. 2-4 years of age) in both populations. The southernmost population (i.e. Spanish) showing the shorter migratory distance experienced a greater within-individual increase in timing of breeding and clutch size in early life and a greater within-individual decrease in laying date but not in clutch size during senescence compared with the northernmost population (i.e. Danish). We also found that the number of fledglings produced annually was related to the age of the two members of the breeding pairs with pairs composed of young and old females performing less well than breeding pairs composed of middle-aged females. We did not find reproductive senescence for the age of the male while controlling for the age of the female on the number of fledglings produced annually by the breeding pair. Differential survival between individuals did not explain age effects on laying date or annual clutch size in neither population. However, the increase in the number of fledglings produced annually with age was partly explained by the disappearance of poor-quality members of the pairs, mainly poor-quality males. Age-related breeding success (i.e. number of fledglings) was similar for barn swallows from Spain and Denmark. Therefore, the study of ageing patterns and life-history strategies in free-ranging animals from more than a single population can throw new light on life-history theory, population dynamics and evolutionary studies of senescence.
我们研究了在繁殖纬度不同的西班牙和丹麦的家燕种群中，繁殖性能的三个衡量标准（产卵日期、产卵量和窝卵数）的老化模式差异。我们发现种群之间的老化模式存在差异。一般来说，年轻（即一岁）和年老（即≥5 岁）的雌性比中年（即 2-4 岁）雌性产卵时间更晚，产卵量更小。在两个种群中，最南端的种群（即西班牙种群）的迁徙距离较短，个体在生命早期繁殖时间和窝卵数的个体内变化较大，而在衰老期间产卵日期的个体内变化较大，但窝卵数的个体内变化较小。与最北端的种群（即丹麦种群）相比。我们还发现，每年产的雏燕数量与繁殖对中两只鸟的年龄有关，由年轻和年老的雌鸟组成的繁殖对表现不如由中年雌鸟组成的繁殖对。我们没有发现雄性年龄对每年产的雏燕数量的影响，而雌性年龄的控制因素。个体之间的差异生存并不能解释两个种群中个体产卵日期或每年窝卵数的年龄效应。然而，随着年龄的增长，每年产的雏燕数量的增加部分可以解释为配对中质量较差的成员（主要是质量较差的雄性）的消失。年龄相关的繁殖成功率（即产的雏燕数量）在西班牙和丹麦的家燕中相似。因此，对来自多个种群的自由生活动物的老化模式和生活史策略的研究可以为生活史理论、种群动态和衰老进化研究提供新的启示。
