Manganese Exacerbates Seasonal Health Declines in a Suicidally Breeding Mammal.

Reproductive costs must be balanced with survival to maximize lifetime reproductive rates; however, some organisms invest in a single, suicidal bout of breeding known as semelparity. The northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) is an endangered marsupial in which males, but not females, are semelparous. Northern quolls living near mining sites on Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia, accumulate manganese (Mn) in their brains, testes, and hair, and elevated Mn impacts motor performance. Whether Mn is associated with other health declines is yet unknown. In the present study we show that male and female northern quolls with higher Mn accumulation had a 20% reduction in immune function and a trend toward reduced cortisol concentrations in hair. The telomere lengths of male quolls did not change pre- to postbreeding, but those with higher Mn levels had longer telomeres; in contrast, the telomeres of females shortened during the breeding season but recovered between the first year and second year of breeding. In addition, the telomeres of quolls that were recaptured declined at significantly higher rates in quolls with higher Mn between prebreeding, breeding, and/or postbreeding seasons. Future research should determine whether changes in cortisol, immune function, or telomere length affect reproductive output or survival-particularly for semelparous males. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:74-86. © 2023 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

Warmer temperatures reduce the costs of inducible defences in the marine toad, Rhinella marinus.

Many of the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ecosystem function will be due to alterations in species interactions. However, our understanding of the effects of temperature on the dynamics of interactions between species is largely inadequate. Inducible defences persist in prey populations because defensive traits increase survival in the presence of predators but are costly when they are absent. Large-scale changes in the thermal climate are likely to alter the costs or benefits of these defences for ectotherms, whose physiological processes are driven by environmental temperature. A shift in costs of defensive traits would affect not only predator-prey interactions, but also the strength of selection for inducible defences in natural populations. We investigate the effect of temperature on the costs of behavioural defences in larvae of the marine toad, Rhinella marinus. Larvae were reared in the presence or absence of predator cues at both 25 and 30 °C. When exposed to predation cues, larvae reduced activity and spent less time feeding. Exposure to predation cues also reduced metabolic rate, presumably as a by-product of reducing activity levels. Larvae exposed to predation cues also grew more slowly, were smaller at metamorphosis and were poorer jumpers after metamorphosis--three traits associated with fitness in post-metamorphic anurans. We found that the costs of behavioural defences, in terms of larval growth, post-metamorphic size and jumping performance, were exacerbated at cooler temperatures. The thermal sensitivity of costs associated with defensive traits may explain geographic variation in plasticity of defensive traits in other species and suggests that changes in environmental temperature associated with climate change may affect predator-prey interactions in subtle ways not previously considered.