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dc.contributor.authorPlummer, K
dc.contributor.authorBearhop, S
dc.contributor.authorLeech, D
dc.contributor.authorChamberlain, D
dc.contributor.authorBlount, J
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-25T14:10:49Z
dc.date.issued2018-04-24
dc.description.abstractThroughout the Western World huge numbers of people regularly supply food for wild birds. However, evidence of negative impacts of winter feeding on future reproduction has highlighted a need to improve understanding of the underlying mechanisms shaping avian responses to supplementary food. Here, we test the possibility that carry-over effects are mediated via their impact on the phenotypes of breeding birds, either by influencing the phenotypic structure of populations through changes in winter survival and/or by more direct effects on the condition of breeding birds. Using a landscape-scale three-year study of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), we demonstrate the importance of nutritional composition of supplementary food in determining carry-over effect outcomes. We show that breeding populations which had access to vitamin E-rich foods during the previous winter were comprised of individuals with reduced feather carotenoid concentrations, indicative of lower pre-feeding phenotypic condition, compared to fat-fed and unfed populations. This suggests that supplementary feeding in winter can result in altered population phenotypic structure at the time of breeding, perhaps by enhancing survival and recruitment of lower quality individuals. However, supplementation of a fat-rich diet during winter was detrimental to the oxidative state of breeding birds, with these phenotypic differences ultimately found to impact upon reproductive success. Our findings demonstrate the complex nature by which supplementary feeding can influence wild bird populations.en_GB
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) CASE studentship (to KEP, JDB, SB and DEC), a Royal Society Research Fellowship (to JDB), the British Trust for Ornithology and Gardman Ltd.en_GB
dc.identifier.citationPublished online 24 April 2018en_GB
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4048
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10871/32607
dc.language.isoenen_GB
dc.publisherWileyen_GB
dc.relation.sourceData for this article are available on the Dryad Digital Repository, https://doi.org/ 10.5061/dryad.92jq2km (Plummer et al 2018).en_GB
dc.rights© 2018 The Authors.This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.en_GB
dc.subjectAntioxidanten_GB
dc.subjectcarotenoid-based plumageen_GB
dc.subjectcarry-over effecten_GB
dc.subjectlife history trade-offen_GB
dc.subjectoxidative stressen_GB
dc.subjecturbanen_GB
dc.titleEffects of winter food provisioning on the phenotypes of breeding blue titsen_GB
dc.typeArticleen_GB
dc.date.available2018-04-25T14:10:49Z
dc.descriptionThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.en_GB
dc.identifier.journalEcology and Evolutionen_GB


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