Smiley Rachel A, LaSharr Tayler N, Abernathy Heather N, Shakeri Yasaman N, Levine Rebecca L, Rankins Seth T, Jakopak Rhiannon P, Rafferty Rebekah T, Kolek Jaron T, Wagler Brittany L, Dwinnell Samantha P H, Robinson Timothy J, Randall Jill E, Kaiser Rusty C, Thonhoff Mark, Scurlock Brandon, Fieseler Troy, Fralick Gary L, Monteith Kevin L
Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA.
Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
Life (Basel). 2022 Mar 4;12(3):375. doi: 10.3390/life12030375.
Nutrition underpins survival and reproduction in animal populations; reliable nutritional biomarkers are therefore requisites to understanding environmental drivers of population dynamics. Biomarkers vary in scope of inference and sensitivity, making it important to know what and when to measure to properly quantify biological responses. We evaluated the repeatability of three nutritional biomarkers in a large, iteroparous mammal to evaluate the level of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to those traits. During a long-term, individual-based study in a highly variable environment, we measured body fat, body mass, and lean mass of mule deer () each autumn and spring. Lean mass was the most repeatable biomarker (0.72 autumn; 0.61 spring), followed by body mass (0.64 autumn; 0.53 spring), and then body fat (0.22 autumn; 0.01 spring). High repeatability in body and lean mass likely reflects primary structural composition, which is conserved across seasons. Low repeatability of body fat supports that it is the primary labile source of energy that is largely a product of environmental contributions of the previous season. Based on the disparate levels in repeatability among nutritional biomarkers, we contend that body and lean mass are better indicators of nutritional legacies (e.g., maternal effects), whereas body fat is a direct and sensitive reflection of recent nutritional gains and losses.
营养是动物种群生存和繁殖的基础；因此，可靠的营养生物标志物是理解种群动态环境驱动因素的必要条件。生物标志物在推断范围和敏感性方面存在差异，因此了解测量什么以及何时测量以正确量化生物反应非常重要。我们评估了一种大型多次繁殖哺乳动物的三种营养生物标志物的重复性，以评估这些特征的内在和外在贡献水平。在一项针对高度可变环境的长期个体研究中，我们在每年秋季和春季测量了骡鹿的体脂、体重和瘦体重。瘦体重是最具重复性的生物标志物（秋季为0.72；春季为0.61），其次是体重（秋季为0.64；春季为0.53），然后是体脂（秋季为0.22；春季为0.01）。体重和瘦体重的高重复性可能反映了主要的结构组成，这种组成在不同季节是保守的。体脂的低重复性表明它是主要的不稳定能量来源，很大程度上是上一季环境贡献的产物。基于营养生物标志物之间重复性的不同水平，我们认为体重和瘦体重是营养遗产（如母体效应）的更好指标，而体脂是近期营养得失的直接和敏感反映。
