DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2mg77
title: Data from: Life history plasticity of a tropical seabird in response to El Niño anomalies during early life

description: Food shortage and other challenges associated with El Niño Southern
 Oscillation (ENSO) experienced early in life may have long-term impacts on
 life history traits, but these potential impacts remain virtually
 unexplored. By monitoring 2556 blue-footed boobies from 11 cohorts, we
 showed that birds facing warm water ENSO conditions (and probably low food
 availability) in the natal year were underweight at fledging, recruited
 earlier and bred less frequently, but showed no deficit in longevity or
 breeding success over the first 10 years. Life history impacts of ENSO
 were substantial when experienced in the prenatal year, the natal year, or
 the second year of life, and absent when experienced in the third year of
 life, implying that harsh conditions have greater effects when experienced
 earlier in life. Sexual differences in impacts depended on the age when
 warm water conditions were experienced: pre-natal and natal experience,
 respectively, induced early recruitment and influenced the relationship
 between age and laying date only in females, whereas second year
 experience reduced total breeding success only of males. Most surprising
 were positive transgenerational impacts in females: daughters of females
 that experienced ENSO conditions in their natal year showed improved
 breeding success. Developmental plasticity of boobies thus enables them to
 largely neutralize potential long-term impacts of harsh climatic
 conditions experienced early in life.
description: Boobies life history
 traitsLife history traits of
 male and female boobies collected in the field. Legends: cohort = natal
 year of each focal recruit; ssty0 = average sea surface temperature
 anomalies (SSTA) in the year before birth; ssty1 = SSTA in the natal year;
 ssty2 = SSTA in the second year of life; ssty3 = SSTA in the third year of
 life; motage = age of each focal recruit´s mother; motcohort = natal year
 of each focal recruit´s mother; sstmoy1 = SSTA in the natal year of each
 focal recruit´s mother; mass70 = body mass of each focal recruit at age 70
 d; ulna70 = ulna length of each focal recruit at age 70 d; recage =
 recruiting age; sex = sex of each focal recruit (f = female, m = male);
 bfreq = number of breeding attempts; totfledg = total number of
 fledglings; long = longevity up to age 10 yrs.Life history
 traits.txtLaying date and annual
 breeding success of blue-footed boobiesLaying dates and
 breeding success of male and female boobies in the season when they
 recruited and during each breeding attempt up to age 10 yrs. Data
 collected in the field. Legends: cohort = natal year of each focal
 recruit; ssty0 = average sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the
 year before birth; ssty1 = SSTA in the natal year; ssty2 = SSTA in the
 second year of life; ssty3 = SSTA in the third year of life; motage = age
 of each focal recruit´s mother; motcohort = natal year of each focal
 recruit´s mother; sstmoy1 = SSTA in the natal year of each focal recruit´s
 mother; breedyr = year of reproduction; sstdf = SSTA in the winter of the
 current season; sstmay = SSTA in the winter-spring of the current season;
 animal = ID of each focal recruit; recage = recruiting age; sex = sex of
 each focal recruit (f = female, m = male); age2 = quadratic term of age of
 each focal recruit; zfledg = annual standardized breeding success; ldate =
 Julian laying date.Laying dates and annual
 breeding success.txt