Ecological Bases of Hormone—Behavior Interactions: The “Emergency Life History Stage”

Wingfield, John C.; Maney, Donna L.; Breuner, Creagh W.; Jacobs, Jerry D.; Lynn, Sharon E.; Ramenofsky, Marilyn; Richardson, Ralph D.

doi:10.1093/icb/38.1.191

Cited by 1,210 publications

(1,011 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

986

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…An organism's ability to respond to stressful events through secretion of CORT may be both beneficial and costly. Elevated CORT allows individuals to cope with short term or acute challenges by suppressing non-essential behaviors and physiological activities while promoting those required for immediate survival [reviewed in 53,39]. In nestling birds, elevated CORT may enhance survival by stimulating begging behavior [23], food intake [5,21] and increased locomotion [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of developmental conditions on nestling American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) corticosterone concentrations

Strasser

Heath

2011

General and Comparative Endocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. AbstractHow nestling birds respond to stressful situations may constitute an important survival component that has lasting developmental effects on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. As birds are exposed to increasing amounts of potential anthropogenic stressors through land use change, understanding how these factors contribute to HPA development is important. We examined whether conditions experienced during the nestling stage affected free-living American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) HPA activity prior to fledging. Kestrels experienced varying levels of human disturbance around their nest and we classified this environmental exposure as high or low environmental human disturbance based on traffic patterns and land use. We then exposed some broods from high and low disturbance areas to a standardized disturbance protocol. Prior to fledging we collected blood samples from 25-day-old nestlings immediately after capture and 15 min post-capture. Corticosterone (CORT) did not vary with environmental human disturbance levels, disturbance protocol treatment, or with an interaction between environmental human disturbance and disturbance protocol treatment suggesting that nestling kestrels may not perceive external conditions related to human disturbance as stressful or kestrels may acclimate to disturbance. We also compared the relative effects of environmental human disturbance outside the nest cavity, conditions within the nest cavity (brood size), and individual condition (nestling fat scores) on baseline and stress-induced CORT. Baseline CORT did not vary with human disturbance level, brood size or fat score. F at scores best explained stress-induced CORT with nestlings in better condition displaying elevated CORT. These results suggest that individual variation is more likely to explain HPA development compared to nest conditions or the external environment. This study demonstrates the importance of considering the effects of developmental conditions on the stress response at several scales.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of developmental conditions on nestling American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) corticosterone concentrations

Strasser

Heath

2011

General and Comparative Endocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, they are ideal hormones to look at in the context of structuring life-history trade-offs. Both baseline (BL) and stressinduced (SI; in response to acute stressors) levels of PRL and CORT have demonstrated central roles in behavior and physiology during avian reproduction (Silver and Cooper, 1983;Horseman and Buntin, 1995;Buntin, 1996;Wingfield et al, 1998;Romero, 2002;McEwen and Wingfield, 2003;Landys et al, 2006;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential for SI CORT secretion to affect the life-history tradeoff between the immediate needs of an individual for survival and their investment in reproductive output has led to a focus on factors that cause individuals to modulate their stress response (Wingfield et al, 1998;Romero, 2002;Wingfield and Sapolsky, 2003). There is mixed evidence that birds suppress their CORT response to acute stressors during breeding (Romero, 2002;Wingfield and Sapolsky, 2003) or that different populations of the same species vary their response to reflect different conditions during breeding (Kitaysky et al, 2007;Shultz and Kitaysky, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone and prolactin levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves

Miller

Vleck

Otis

2009

Hormones and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Endocrine systems have an important mechanistic role in structuring life-history trade-offs. During breeding, individual variation in prolactin (PRL) and corticosterone (CORT) levels affects behavioral and physiological processes that drive trade-offs between reproduction and self-maintenance. We examined patterns in baseline (BL) and stress induced (SI; level following a standard capture-restraint protocol) levels of PRL and CORT for breeding mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). We determined whether the relationship of adult condition and parental effort to hormone levels in wild birds was consistent with life-history predictions. Both BL PRL and BL CORT level in adults were positively related to nestling weight at early nestling ages, consistent with the prediction of a positive relationship of hormone levels to current parental effort of adults and associated increased energy demand. Results are consistent with the two hormones acting together at baseline levels to limit negative effects of CORT on reproduction while maintaining beneficial effects such as increased foraging for nestling feeding. Our data did not support predictions that SI responses would vary in response to nestling or adult condition. The magnitude of CORT response in the parents to our capture-restraint protocol was negatively correlated with subsequent parental effort. Average nestling weights for adults with the highest SI CORT response were on average 10-15% lighter than expected for their age in follow-up visits after the stress event. Our results demonstrated a relationship between individual hormone levels and within population variation in parental effort and suggested that hormonal control plays an important role in structuring reproductive decisions for mourning doves. RightsWorks produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted. Endocrine systems have an important mechanistic role in structuring life-history trade-offs. During breeding, individual variation in prolactin (PRL) and corticosterone (CORT) levels affects behavioral and physiological processes that drive trade-offs between reproduction and self-maintenance. We examined patterns in baseline (BL) and stress induced (SI; level following a standard capture-restraint protocol) levels of PRL and CORT for breeding mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). We determined whether the relationship of adult condition and parental effort to hormone levels in wild birds was consistent with life-history predictions. Both BL PRL and BL CORT level in adults were positively related to nestling weight at early nestling ages, consistent with the prediction of a positive relationship of hormone levels to current parental effort of adults and associated increased energy demand. Results are consistent with the two hormones acting together at baseline levels to limit negative effects of CORT on reproduction while maintaining beneficial effects such as increased foraging for nestli...

show abstract

“…Indeed, it has been suggested that sexually dimorphic responses to stressors, mediated by sex steroids, may have evolved to maintain reproductive competence under stressful conditions (Handa et al, 1994). Thus it may be predicted that in viviparous species adrenal and immune responses to chronic stress would be attenuated in gestating, as compared with non-gestating, females to ensure that the significant investment in gestati on is not threatened (Wingfield et al, 1998). Rooney and Guillette (2001), reviewing the evidence for stress-related immune depression in reptiles, pointed out the lack of direct studies of changes in immune parameters during a stress response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adrenal and white cell count responses to chronic stress in gestating and postpartum females of the viviparous skink Egernia whitii (Scincidae)

Cartledge

Gartrell

Jones

2005

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular &

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecological Bases of Hormone—Behavior Interactions: The “Emergency Life History Stage”

Cited by 1,210 publications

References 47 publications

Effects of developmental conditions on nestling American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) corticosterone concentrations

Effects of developmental conditions on nestling American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) corticosterone concentrations

Individual variation in baseline and stress-induced corticosterone and prolactin levels predicts parental effort by nesting mourning doves

Adrenal and white cell count responses to chronic stress in gestating and postpartum females of the viviparous skink Egernia whitii (Scincidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About