Browsing by Author "Moller, Anders Pape"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Antioxidants in Eggs of Great Tits Parus Major From Chernobyl and Hatching Success
(Springer Heidelberg, 2008) Moller, Anders Pape; Karadas, Filis; Mousseau, Timothy A.
Antioxidants are powerful protectors against the damaging effects of free radicals that constitute the inevitable by-products of aerobic metabolism. Growing embryos are particularly susceptible to the damaging effects of free radicals produced during rapid growth, and mothers of many species provide protection against such damage by allocating antioxidants to their eggs. Birds living in radioactively contaminated areas use dietary antioxidants to cope with the damaging effects of radiation, but females also allocate dietary antioxidants to eggs, potentially enforcing a physiological trade-off between self-maintenance and reproductive investment. Here we tested whether female great tits Parus major breeding in radioactively contaminated study areas near Chernobyl allocated less dietary antioxidants to eggs, and whether such reduced allocation of dietary antioxidants to eggs had fitness consequences. Concentrations of total yolk carotenoids and vitamins A and E were depressed near Chernobyl compared to concentrations in a less contaminated Ukrainian study area and a French control study area, and all antioxidants showed dose-dependent relationships with all three dietary antioxidants decreasing with increasing level of radiation at nest boxes. These effects held even when controlling statistically for potentially confounding habitat variables and covariation among antioxidants. Laying date was advanced and clutch size increased at nest boxes with high dose rates. Hatching success increased with increasing concentration of vitamin E, implying that hatching success decreased at boxes with high levels of radiation, eventually eliminating and even reversing the higher potential reproductive output associated with early reproduction and large clutch size. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that radioactive contamination reduced levels of dietary antioxidants in yolks, with negative consequences for hatching success and reproductive success.
A Comparison of Fat-Soluble Antioxidants in Wild and Farm-Reared Chukar Partridges (Alectoris Chukar)
(Elsevier Science inc, 2017) Karadas, Filiz; Moller, Anders Pape; Karagecili, Mehmet Resit
This study assessed differences in antioxidant (carotenoid, retinol, retinol-ester, vitamin E and coenzyme Q(10)) composition of egg yolk and tissue in chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar) newly hatched from eggs of birds maintained in captivity on commercial maize-soybean based diets and birds from the wild whose diet was obtained from the natural environment. All eggs were incubated in a commercial hatchery. Day-old chicks from both groups were sacrificed and dissected for antioxidant analysis. Fat soluble antioxidant concentrations of egg yolk and tissues were determined by HPLC. Total carotenoids, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and total vitamin E concentration of wild egg yolks were significantly higher compared to yolks from farm-reared birds (p < 0.05). However, gamma tocopherol, and coenzyme Q(10) were not significantly different in the yolks of either wild or farmed birds (p > 0.05). The concentration of total carotenoids in all tissues of wild chukar one-day old partridges was significantly higher than in farmed one-day old chukar partridge tissues (p < 0.05). Alpha tocopherol, free-retinol, retinal-esters and total vitamin A were significantly higher in most tissues of wild chukar when compared to farmed chicks (p < 0.05). Coenzyme Qio concentrations of heart, kidney and brain tissues of farm-reared chukar day old chicks were significantly higher than tissues from wild birds, although leg and breast tissues of wild chicks were significantly higher than in farmed birds (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that maternal access to antioxidants in the diet of farmed chukar partridges could positively influence fat soluble antioxidant concentrations in the egg yolk and tissues of day old chicks.
Levels of Antioxidants in Rural and Urban Birds and Their Consequences
(Springer, 2010) Moller, Anders Pape; Erritzoe, Johannes; Karadas, Filiz
Numerous animals have successfully invaded urban habitats, although the factors associated with invasion success remain poorly understood. Urban areas are characterized by warmer microclimates, higher levels of primary productivity, longer breeding seasons and higher levels of pollutants. All these factors should cause oxidative stress, favoring invasion by species that have access to high levels of antioxidants. We analyzed concentrations of two categories of dietary, fat-soluble antioxidants (total carotenoids, total vitamin E) in the liver, the main storage organ in birds. Individuals killed by cats had lower levels of vitamin E than individuals that died for other reasons, showing natural selection on stored antioxidants. Bird species that had successfully colonized urban areas had significantly higher levels of vitamin E and total carotenoids than species that did not succeed, and rural populations had higher concentrations of vitamin E and total carotenoids than urban populations of the same species. Interspecific differences in concentrations of fat-soluble antioxidants, and differences between rural and urban populations of the same species, were accounted for by diet, but also by time since urbanization and number of generations since urbanization. These findings suggest that antioxidants, and by implication the ability to cope with oxidative stress, have contributed to successful invasion of urban areas by birds, and that the concentration of these antioxidants has changed in response to the urban environment.
Liver Antioxidants in Relation To Beak Morphology, Gizzard Size and Diet in the Common Eider Somateria Mollissima
(Mdpi, 2019) Moller, Anders Pape; Laursen, Karsten; Karadas, Filiz
Antioxidants in the liver are particularly abundant in capital breeders that rely on stored resources for egg production. Capital breeders like eider (hereafter common eider) Somateria mollissima have disproportionately large livers with low levels of coenzyme Q(10) when compared to other bird species. Concentrations of total carotenoids and vitamin E in the livers of eiders were smaller than predicted for similarly sized bird species. Eiders with high body condition estimated as body mass relative to skeletal body size had high levels of total carotenoids and low levels of coenzyme Q(10). The concentration of total carotenoids per gram of liver increased with age, and vitamin E and total carotenoids accumulated during the winter onwards from February to peak at the start of incubation in April. Total vitamin E, total carotenoids, and coenzyme Q(10) per gram of liver decreased with increasing beak volume. The size of the empty gizzard increased with increasing liver mass but decreased with total carotenoids and coenzyme Q(10). The main components of the diet were blue mussels Mytilus edulis (40%), draft whelk Nassarius reticulatus (27%), and periwinkle Littorina littorea (10%). The concentration of vitamin E increased with the number of razor clams Ensis sp. and draft whelks in the gizzard and the concentration of total carotenoids increased with the number of beach crabs Carcinus maenas. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that eiders are limited in their levels of antioxidants through food limitation. Furthermore, they imply that diet and morphological characters involved in food acquisition and processing are important determinants of the level of antioxidants in the liver.
Maternal Effects and Changing Phenology of Bird Migration
(inter-research, 2011) Moller, Anders Pape; Biard, Clotilde; Karadas, Filiz; Rubolini, Diego; Saino, Nicola; Surai, Peter F.
Recent changes in migration distances and propensity for migration associated with climate change have suggested that these traits can evolve rapidly. Part of this rapid response to selection may be due to maternal effects that facilitate changes in the underlying physiology of migration. We hypothesize that exposure to large amounts of antioxidants in the egg will facilitate assimilation and metabolism of dietary antioxidants later in life, thereby allowing offspring to better cope with extreme strenuous exercise such as the bursts of rapid migration shown during spring migration. We tested the relationship between temporal change in mean arrival date of migratory birds since 1960 and concentrations of 2 antioxidants in the eggs of 14 species of birds. Only egg concentration of vitamin E was a significant predictor of advancement in spring arrival date. Furthermore, we experimentally manipulated egg content of vitamin E in barn swallows Hirundo rustica and subsequently recorded arrival date of yearling male recruits. Arrival date advanced significantly by > 1 standard deviation due to treatment, providing experimental evidence for a relationship between egg concentration of vitamin E and subsequent migration behavior. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that maternal effects have played an important role in the evolution of bird migration.