Early‐life adversity modulates growth trajectories and red blood cell mitochondrial metabolism in king penguin chicks

In many avian species, variation in breeding phenology is known to affect reproductive success. In king penguins, the breeding cycle lasts more than a year, and the start of egg‐laying extends over three months, with early‐breeders laying eggs around December and late‐breeders around February. Consequently, late‐born chicks have less time to grow and build‐up their energy reserves before the austral winter. Variation in metabolic rate is one important pathway affecting differences in growth patterns, as it is directly involved both in energy allocation processes and fitness. The conversion of resources into energy occurs in mitochondria, and the efficiency of this conversion is likely to play a fundamental role in explaining individual variation in growth and survival. The purposes of this study were to investigate the differences in red blood cell mitochondrial metabolism between early‐ and late‐born king penguin chicks and to assess whether growth patterns could be explained by differences in mitochondrial metabolism. Late chicks expressed higher mitochondrial metabolism than early chicks at 100 days post‐hatching, probably linked to the stress related to winter environmental conditions and a decrease in parental feeding rates. We did not find a clear association between chick mitochondrial metabolism and growth patterns, suggesting that environmental conditions mostly contributed in explaining different metabolic phenotypes. As king penguin populations in Crozet may face changing breeding conditions (changes in feeding area and foraging trips duration) in relation to global changes, studying the physiological traits and adaptations underlying the chick growth and survival may help in understanding the response of king penguins facing challenging conditions.