Antioxidant capacity is repeatable across years but does not consistently correlate with a marker of peroxidation in a free-living passerine bird

TL;DR

This study shows that antioxidant levels are consistently repeatable in wild birds across years, but their correlation with oxidative damage markers varies with environmental conditions, indicating flexible oxidative balance regulation.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the repeatability and variability of oxidative markers in free-living birds under different environmental manipulations.

Findings

Antioxidant defenses are repeatable across years in wild birds.

Reactive oxygen metabolites are not consistently repeatable.

The correlation between antioxidants and ROS varies with environmental conditions.

Abstract

Oxidative stress occurs when reactive oxygen species (ROS) exceed antioxidant defences, which can have deleterious effects on cell function, health and survival. Therefore, organisms are expected to finely regulate pro-oxidant and antioxidant processes. ROS are mainly produced through aerobic metabolism and vary in response to changes in energetic requirements, whereas antioxidants may be enhanced, depleted or show no changes in response to changes in ROS levels. We investigated the repeatability, within-individual variation and correlation across different conditions of two plasmatic markers of the oxidative balance in 1108 samples from 635 free-living adult collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). We sought to manipulate energy constraints by increasing wing load in 2012 and 2013 and by providing additional food in 2014. We then tested the relative importance of within- and between-individual variation on reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), a marker of lipid and protein peroxidation, and on non-enzymatic antioxidant defences (OXY test). We also investigated whether the experimental treatments modified the correlation between markers. Antioxidant defences were repeatable (range of repeatability estimates = 0.128--0.581), whereas ROMs were not (0--0.061). Antioxidants varied neither between incubation and nestling feeding nor between sexes. ROMs increased from incubation to nestling feeding in females and were higher in females than males. Antioxidant defences and ROM concentration were globally positively correlated, but the correlation varied between experimental conditions and between years. Hence, the management of oxidative balance in wild animals appears flexible under variable environmental conditions, an observation which should be confirmed over a wider range of markers.