Winter corticosterone and body condition predict breeding investment in a nonmigratory bird

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1642-1652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Montreuil-Spencer ◽  
Kelsey Schoenemann ◽  
Ádám Z Lendvai ◽  
Frances Bonier
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Residual Body ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Nonbreeding Season ◽  
Fat Reserves ◽  
Fat Score

Abstract Reproduction is an energetically demanding life history stage that requires costly physiological and behavioral changes, yet some individuals will invest more into reproduction and breed more successfully than others. To understand variation in reproductive investment, previous studies have evaluated factors during breeding, but conditions outside of this life history stage may also play a role. Using a free-ranging population of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), we assessed the repeatability of plastic traits relating to energetic condition (circulating initial corticosterone concentrations and body condition) during the nonbreeding season and evaluated whether these traits predicted reproductive investment in the subsequent breeding season. We found that initial corticosterone concentrations and an index of body condition, but not fat score, were moderately repeatable over a 1-week period in winter. This trait repeatability supports the interpretation that among-individual variation in these phenotypic traits could reflect an intrinsic strategy to cope with challenging conditions across life history stages. We found that females with larger fat reserves during winter laid eggs sooner and tended to spend more time incubating their eggs and feeding their offspring. In contrast, we found that females with higher residual body mass delayed breeding, after controlling for the relationship between fat score and timing of breeding. Additionally, females with higher initial corticosterone in winter laid lighter eggs. Our findings suggest that conditions experienced outside of the breeding season may be important factors explaining variation in reproductive investment.

Response to acute stress in the Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) during the breeding season and moult: relationships to gender, condition, and life-history stage

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (8) ◽  
pp. 1334-1343 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Perfito ◽  
G Schirato ◽  
M Brown ◽  
J C Wingfield
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Corticosterone Concentration ◽  
Histrionicus Histrionicus ◽  
Males And Females

Seasonal adjustments and individual responses to environmental perturbations have been well characterized in many passerine species but similar studies in other groups of birds are sparse. Larger-bodied and longer-lived avian species have different life-history strategies and different energy-storage and -utilization patterns. We investigated the response to capture stress in male and female Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) during the breeding season on montane rivers and during moult on coastal waterways of Washington State. Females arrived at the breeding grounds in better condition and had a smaller rise in circulating corticosterone during 1 h of restraint than males. As the breeding season progressed, body condition declined in females and their adrenocortical response to acute stress became more pronounced. A potentially disruptive environmental condition, high river flow during the breeding season, was not associated with lower nesting success, lower body condition indices, or higher corticosterone levels (baseline or maximum concentration). The maximum corticosterone concentration reached over 1 h of restraint was negatively correlated with body condition in females during the breeding season. Lastly, males and females had similar adrenocortical responses to capture and handling during moult. We relate differential responses to acute stress between males and females to different selective pressures during the breeding season.

scholarly journals Enzymatic antioxidants but not baseline glucocorticoids mediate the reproduction–survival trade-off in a wild bird

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1892) ◽  
pp. 20182141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Casagrande ◽  
Michaela Hau
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Redox State ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Redox System ◽  
Reactive Oxygen Metabolites ◽  
Enzymatic Antioxidants ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Nest Provisioning

The trade-off between reproductive investment and survival is central to life-history theory, but the relative importance and the complex interactions among the physiological mechanisms mediating it are still debated. Here we experimentally tested whether baseline glucocorticoid hormones, the redox system or their interaction mediate reproductive investment–survival trade-offs in wild great tits ( Parus major ). We increased the workload of parental males by clipping three feathers on each wing, and 5 days later determined effects on baseline corticosterone concentrations (Cort), redox state (reactive oxygen metabolites, protein carbonyls, glutathione peroxidase [GPx], total non-enzymatic antioxidants), body mass, body condition, reproductive success and survival. Feather-clipping did not affect fledgling numbers, chick body condition, nest provisioning rates or survival compared with controls. However, feather-clipped males lost mass and increased both Cort and GPx concentrations. Within feather-clipped individuals, GPx increases were positively associated with reproductive investment (i.e. male nest provisioning). Furthermore, within all individuals, males that increased GPx suffered reduced survival rates. Baseline Cort increases were related to mass loss but not to redox state, nest provisioning or male survival. Our findings provide experimental evidence that changes in the redox system are associated with the trade-off between reproductive investment and survival, while baseline Cort may support this trade-off indirectly through a link with body condition. These results also emphasize that plastic changes in individuals, rather than static levels of physiological signals, may mediate life-history trade-offs.

scholarly journals Life history stage explains behavior in a social network before and during the early breeding season in a cooperatively breeding bird

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8302
Author(s):  
Angela Tringali ◽  
David L. Sherer ◽  
Jillian Cosgrove ◽  
Reed Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding

In species with stage-structured populations selection pressures may vary between different life history stages and result in stage-specific behaviors. We use life history stage to explain variation in the pre and early breeding season social behavior of a cooperatively breeding bird, the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) using social network analysis. Life history stage explains much of the variation we observed in social network position. These differences are consistent with nearly 50 years of natural history observations and generally conform to a priori predictions about how individuals in different stages should behave to maximize their individual fitness. Where the results from the social network analysis differ from the a priori predictions suggest that social interactions between members of different groups are more important for breeders than previously thought. Our results emphasize the importance of accounting for life history stage in studies of individual social behavior.

scholarly journals Experimental heating reveals nest temperature affects nestling condition in tree swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor )

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 468-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan H Pérez ◽  
Daniel R Ardia ◽  
Elise K Chad ◽  
Ethan D Clotfelter
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Tree Swallow ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Delayed Effects ◽  
Life History Stages ◽  
Treatment Status ◽  
Carry Over

Investment in one life-history stage can have delayed effects on subsequent life-history stages within a single reproductive bout. We experimentally heated tree swallow ( Tachycineta bicolor ) nests during incubation to test for effects on parental and nestling conditions. Females incubating in heated boxes maintained higher body condition and fed nestlings at higher rates. We cross-fostered nestlings and found that young nestlings (4–7 days old) incubated in heated nests had higher body condition and body mass, regardless of treatment status of their rearing parent. However, older nestlings which were fed by heated females maintained higher condition and body mass regardless of treatment status of their incubating parent. These results indicate that investment in one life-history stage can have multiple pathways of carry-over effects on future life-history stages.

Effects of body size, body condition, and breeding state on responses to alarm cues by fathead minnows

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (9) ◽  
pp. 1351-1357 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Pollock ◽  
R.J. Pollock ◽  
D.P. Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Standard Length ◽  
Gonadosomatic Index ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
The Body ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Nonbreeding Season

There is often considerable variation in the intensity of behavioural responses of prey to predation cues. The purpose of the current study was to determine the role of standard length (a correlate of age), body condition (a measure of energy reserves, calculated by mass/(standard length)3), and gonadosomatic index (state of reproduction, calculated by gonad mass / body mass) in the responses of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas Rafinesque, 1820) to damage-release alarm cues. Our data indicate that during the nonbreeding season longer/older minnows exhibited significantly increased antipredator responses compared with younger individuals. However, the significance of these correlations ceased during the breeding season. Data from the same trials failed to reveal a significant correlation between the intensity of antipredator behaviour and the body condition before or during the breeding season; the intensity of a minnow’s antipredator response was also not significantly correlated with its gonadosomatic index. These data are important in understanding factors affecting antipredator behaviour of minnows, as well as aiding researchers in determining potential time of year confounds in future studies.

Forest fragmentation and body condition in wintering black-capped chickadees

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 572-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Turcotte ◽  
André Desrochers
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Critical Energy ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Residual Body ◽  
Poecile Atricapillus ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Subzero Temperatures ◽  
Fat Score ◽  
Management Challenge

Winter represents a critical energy management challenge for northern birds. Subzero temperatures may persist almost without interruption for months, food supply steadily decreases, day length greatly limits time available for foraging, and they must endure long fasting at night. Body condition represents a potentially important concept to our understanding of how severe winters impact individual fitness and populations. Many researchers have addressed body condition in small wintering birds. However, studies published so far have rarely been placed into a landscape context, despite reported effects of landscape structure on the ecology of birds exposed to severe winters. We investigated whether forest cover affects body condition in a population of black-capped chickadees ( Poecile atricapillus (L., 1766)) during winter. We measured residual body mass, fat score, and rate of growth of induced feathers to assess body condition in 12 landscapes with forest cover ranging from 10% to 87%. Forest cover was not associated with any of these measures of body condition, suggesting that highly deforested and fragmented landscapes were not energetically more costly to chickadees. However, we may not rule out the possibility that this result was biased against by a higher emigration or mortality rate of individuals in poor body condition.

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