Silver spoon effect: Natal noise exposition is associated with telomere dynamics in adult birds

Yuheng Sun , Terry Burke, Julia Schroeder, Hannah L Dugdale 

Anthropogenic noise disturbance on wildlife is of growing concern. Environmental noise exposure during incubation can negatively impact fitness in wild birds. Here, we hypothesised that chronic noise introduces stress through oxidative damage to embryos, reflected in short-term fitness reduction and long-term physiological changes. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of chronic natal noise on chick body condition, fledging success, and adult telomere shortening in a wild house sparrow Passer domesticus population using 13 years of data. We disentangled the effects of noise in the natal and rearing environments using cross-fostering. We found no evidence for the association between natal noise exposure and chick mass, body condition at fledging, and fledging success. However, adults with shorter telomeres were underrepresented in older age groups if they were incubated in chronic noise conditions, suggesting a silver spoon effect of early-life noise exposure, which has implications for the management of wild populations.