EARLYSTART · Short and long-term consequences of the early environment

Short and long-term consequences of the early environment

It is well known that disturbances experienced in childhood have a strong impact on the life of an individual, with consequences in adulthood. The potential consequences of adverse early conditions will depend on the type of disturbance, the duration of the disturbance and the moment of development when the disturbance occurs, as there are more sensitive time windows in development than others. In the worse case scenario, it could lead to dysfunctional adults. There are many ways to buffer disturbances. One of them is social support, which in many instances comes from relatives. However, the family can also be the source of the disorder, for instance when an individual is raised in a dysfunctional family. To address this question I have used the spotless starling, a common passerine bird in Spain. In passerine birds, the social system seems very stable. It consists of a monogamous pair that shares the care of the offspring. However, social pairs and genetic pairs usually differ. Both males and females can be promiscuous, and in a relatively high proportion of nests, some of the offspring are not genetically related to both social parents. Promiscuity is related to some personality traits: promiscuous females are more exploratory, more active, and thus, less nest-attending. Moreover, males paired with promiscuous females decrease their paternal share. In the same line, males can mate with more than one female at a time, and part nest attendance between them. Therefore, a female mated with a polygynous male (a male that defends more than one nest and more than one clutch), receives a lower share of paternal nest attendance. Nest attendance is essential for the good development of the offspring, and thus, offspring from a promiscuous parent might see their development compromised. In this project, I have investigated the link between personality, promiscuity and the effects on offspring development. I wanted to know how the early environment provided by the parents explained the life trajectories of their offspring. In particular, I wanted to know to what extent female personality affected the early environment experienced by the nestlings, whether males mated with promiscuous females reduced their parental care, and what were the consequences for the female and the offspring both in the short and in the long-term. Dysfunctional families are a major issue in human societies. The results attained might help understand the long-term effects of being raised in such environments. Moreover, in a global change scenario, disturbances are expected, and to identify what are the consequences for the individual, as well as for the species might increase the awareness of protection measures.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union