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Oxidative Status And Life History Trade-Offs In The Cooperatively Breeding Florida Scrub-Jay, Rebecca Suzanne Heiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oxidative damage has been linked to several degenerative diseases and, as such, the oxidative status of an organism has been widely used as a proxy for health state. Organisms able to resist attack by reactive oxygen species, or those with high levels of antioxidants, are typically assumed to be in better condition (i.e., better able to withstand oxidative damage to biomolecules). Little work, however, has focused on whether the oxidative status of an organism (particularly oxidative damage in free-living species) influences life history decisions. My research examined the interplay between oxidative status and life history characteristics in a free-living bird, …