Effects of body size and weather on telomere length
We investigated factors affecting fledgling TL (response variable) by
constructing 30 biologically plausible linear mixed effects models with
combinations of the explanatory variables sex, age, standardized tarsus
length, brood size (number of chicks in the nest at the time of
sampling), and the NAO_30 index. In addition, an interaction term
between island population identity (i.e. high or lowselection regime) and tarsus length was included in some models to test
for an effect of the artificial selection regimes on the relationship
between TL and tarsus length.
Brood identity and year (cohort)
effects were accounted for by inclusion as random intercepts in all
models. Again, candidate models were compared using AICc.