Variation in faecal corticosterone metabolites in an Arctic seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle) during the nesting period

Kidawa, Dorota; Wojczulanis‐Jakubas, Katarzyna; Jakubas, Dariusz; Palme, Rupert; Stempniewicz, Lech; Barcikowski, Mateusz; Keslinka-Nawrot, Liliana

doi:10.1007/s00300-014-1464-3

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…Experimental chicks before implantation and control chicks had similar levels of faecal corticosterone metabolites (Tukey and Kramer post hoc test, P = 0.97; Table 1). The increase in faecal corticosterone metabolites remained within the physiological range of this species (Kidawa et al 2014). Chicks implanted with the placebo pellet had similar concentrations before (median = 5.9, Q 1 -Q 3 : 4.6-8.9, n = 3) and 3 days after implantation (median = 6.89, Q 1 -Q 3 : 6.37-10.56, n = 3).…”

Section: Corticosterone Levelmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…For example, Spée et al (2011) observed a 3.3-fold increase in circulating corticosterone levels within 3 days of pellet implantation. We chose chicks with a similar body mass for the study, because corticosterone levels vary between individuals with respect to their body mass (Kidawa et al 2014).…”

Section: Experiments With Chicksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To monitor corticosterone levels after pellet implantation, we measured the concentration of corticosterone metabolites in faeces, which is a valuable non-invasive method to examine hormone levels and has been successfully validated for Little Auks (Kidawa et al 2014). We collected faeces immediately in plastic tubes, labelled and maintained in a field cooler box with frozen gel packs for up to 1 h, and then we stored them in a freezer at -20°C until analysis.…”

Section: Evaluating the Corticosterone Level After Implantationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A high level of corticosterone, which is the main stress hormone in birds, has been suggested to be a reliable indicator of poor condition or health, thus, reflecting how an individual copes with the environment (Bonier et al 2009). In Little Auks, a higher corticosterone level might also be associated with food deprivation or unfavourable weather conditions (Kidawa et al 2014). Therefore, corticosterone could be used as an established hormonal indicator of an organism's response to stress, but also as an independent experimental factor that simulates the stress reaction (Kitaysky et al 2001;Romero et al 2005;Müller et al 2009a;Shini et al 2009;Spée et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experimental manipulations appear to be the best way to predict birds' reactions during unfavourable environmental conditions. The recognised positive corticosterone response to adverse trophic and environmental conditions (Harding et al 2011;Kidawa et al 2014) allowed us to artificially enhance the corticosterone level in Little Auk chicks and adult birds, to study changes in their behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

2016

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Long-lived seabirds are good models to study the mechanisms that mediate the parent-offspring interactions. Contrary to studies under natural conditions, experimental manipulations allow us to assess the birds' reactions in a short time period. We used the stress hormone corticosterone as an independent experimental factor to simulate the stress reaction, to examine changes in the behaviour of Little Auk chicks and parent birds. In the first experiment, we hypothesised that after enhancement of the corticosterone level Little Auk (Alle alle) chicks intensify their begging performance and attain a higher pre-fledging body mass than the control chicks. In the second experiment, we hypothesized that parent Little Auks with an increased corticosterone level feed their chicks less frequently and spend less time at the colony than their untreated partners and the control birds. We also expected that chicks with one parent implanted with corticosterone fledge later and with a lower body mass than chicks of two untreated parents. The obtained results supported the above hypotheses. We demonstrated that modification of begging performance in Little Auks constitutes an adaptive mechanism that guards against the decrease in the chicks' body condition during stressful periods. Even though the provisioning rate in Little Auks can be regulated according to the chick's needs (expressed by the intensity of the begging display), it appears that adult birds regulate their provisioning strategy primarily according to their body state. The results suggest that parent Little Auks under stressful conditions will decrease their parental effort and redirect the available energy towards self-maintenance. The study provides novel insights into the behaviour of long-lived alcids using an experimental approach on free-living birds.

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Section: Corticosterone Levelmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Experiments With Chicksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evaluating the Corticosterone Level After Implantationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

2016

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Accessible ecophysiological tools for seabird conservation

Whitehead

Dunphy

2022

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Seabirds are the most endangered avian taxa on Earth, with over a third of species globally threatened. To help slow their decline, conservation physiology seeks to determine how seabird responses to climatic and anthropogenic threats influence demographic processes, but it is not widely utilized in monitoring.2. A wide variety of metrics and methods are available to the conservation practitioner; thus, the correct method selection is paramount. This is a review of physiological tools to assess both individual and population health in seabirds, outlining which tools could be accessible enough to incorporate into conservation management strategies to increase the efficacy and range of population monitoring.3. Ultimately, the cost and expertise required limits the use of some tools in a community-based management context, but they are useful in academic research in collaboration with conservation projects to generate data to inform management strategies for threatened species.4. The value of the data available from particular tools is weighed against the invasiveness of the methodology to assess the practicality of incorporating physiological tools into routine seabird monitoring programmes. 5. A broader application of conservation physiology tools in a monitoring context could help manage threatened species; this paper summarizes a set of physiological variables from minimally invasive samples that have potential to assist in monitoring population health for seabird conservation. The full potential of these physiological tools is yet to be realized in seabirds.

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A big storm in a small body: seasonal changes in body mass, hormone concentrations and leukocyte profile in the little auk (Alle alle)

et al. 2015

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International audienceBirds undergo pronounced physiological changes during the reproduction, which may be linked to their parental efforts. Examining these changes may supply information about the birds’ energy expenditure during the particular phases of breeding and help to understand birds’ decisions about their subsequent parental investments. In this study, we measured a number of variables, i.e. body mass (scaled mass index, SMI), baseline corticosterone (CORT) and prolactin (PRL) concentrations and leucocyte profile [basically heterophils-to-lymphocytes (H/L) ratio], during the prelaying, incubation and chick rearing periods in 191 little auks (Alle alle), small Arctic seabirds. We expected the changes in the physiological variables to reflect the energy demands, i.e. the highest levels during chick rearing, moderate ones during incubation and the lowest ones prior to egg laying. Unexpectedly, we found SMI to be the highest during the incubation period, whereas lower and similar to each other values were recorded during the prelaying and chick rearing periods. Also, CORT unexpectedly peaked in the prelaying period, declined during incubation and remained at the incubation level during the chick rearing period. In accordance with our expectations, the PRL concentration was five times higher during the incubation than the chick rearing period and H/L ratio followed the pattern of the CORT changes. Consequently, there is no straightforward interpretation of the observed patterns of changes. Evidently, there are factors other than parental efforts per se that account for the dynamics of physiological changes. We found no sex differences in any of the variables investigated, which indicates that male and female parental investments are very similar

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Variation in faecal corticosterone metabolites in an Arctic seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle) during the nesting period

Cited by 10 publications

References 50 publications

Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

Parent-offspring interactions in a long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle): begging and provisioning under simulated stress

Accessible ecophysiological tools for seabird conservation

A big storm in a small body: seasonal changes in body mass, hormone concentrations and leukocyte profile in the little auk (Alle alle)

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