Data from: Oxidative damage increases with reproductive energy expenditure and is reduced by food-supplementation

  • Quinn E. Fletcher (Creator)
  • Colin Selman (Creator)
  • Stan Boutin (Creator)
  • Andrew G. McAdam (Creator)
  • Sarah B. Woods (Creator)
  • Arnold Y. Seo (Creator)
  • Christiaan Leeuwenburgh (Creator)
  • John Speakman (Creator)
  • Murray M. Humphries (Creator)

Dataset

Description

A central principle in life-history theory is that reproductive effort negatively affects survival. Costs of reproduction are thought to be physiologically-based, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using female North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), we test the hypothesis that energetic investment in reproduction overwhelms investment in antioxidant protection, leading to oxidative damage. In support of this hypothesis we found that the highest levels of plasma protein oxidative damage in squirrels occurred during the energetically-demanding period of lactation. Moreover, plasma protein oxidative damage was also elevated in squirrels that expended the most energy and had the lowest antioxidant protection. Finally, we found that squirrels that were food-supplemented during lactation and winter had increased antioxidant protection and reduced plasma protein oxidative damage providing the first experimental evidence in the wild that access to abundant resources can reduce this physiological cost.

Data type

Dryad_Evolution_12-0587.R1

Copyright and Open Data Licencing

This work is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license.
Date made available8 Nov 2012
PublisherDryad Digital Repository
Geographical coverage[61 N, 138 W], Canada, Yukon

Keywords

  • antioxidant protection
  • Daily Energy Expenditure
  • doubly-labeled water
  • energetics
  • food-supplementation
  • life-history theory
  • Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

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