Chronic stress in free-living European starlings reduces corticosterone concentrations and reproductive success

Cyr, Nicole E.; Romero, L. Michael

doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2006.12.003

Cited by 226 publications

(170 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Control nests were not visited, except for when young were 10 days old, and again when nestlings were 25 days old. We adapted Cyr and Romero's [13] field chronic stress protocol by adding stimuli associated with human disturbance patterns in our study area (residential and agricultural activity). In addition, stimuli were presented to the broods in an unpredictable pattern, a key component of a stressor [36,13].…”

Section: Disturbance Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I n developing animals chronic stress can have adverse effects that persist through life stages. For example, elevated nestling CORT has been linked to compromised cognitive abilities [21], neophobia [43], changes in baseline CORT or HPA reactivity [34,13,22], and reduced survival [4]. At the individual level, nestling condition may be responsible for variation in CORT patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence of long-term exposure to stressors such as human disturbance, nestling competition as a result of large brood size, or variation in body condition, nestlings may display a sensitized stress response (i.e. higher CORT concentrations), which may facilitate coping or lead to repercussions associated with chronically elevated CORT [13,9]. A lternatively, nestlings may respond with a down-regulated or dampened stress response [36,52] presumably to minimize the long-term negative effects elevated CORT has during development [49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Strasser

Heath

2011

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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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.

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Section: Disturbance Protocolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Strasser

Heath

2011

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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“…It is hypothesized that only the "free" unbound CORT has biological activity, so increasing CBG concentrations essentially avoids high concentrations of active CORT (Malisch and Breuner 2010). Such containment may facilitate successful breeding, as continually elevated CORT concentrations may interrupt breeding behavior (Wingfield et al 1983;Silverin 1986;Wingfield and Silverin 1986;Gray et al 1990;Cyr and Romero 2006;Cyr et al 2007). CBGs may also help to control CORT concentrations within tissues or movement across cell membranes (Malisch and Breuner 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is particularly apparent among birds exposed to high energetic demands, inclement weather, or food limitations (Rees et al 1985;Astheimer et al 1995;Marra and Holberton 1998;Kitaysky et al 1999;Jenni et al 2000). Birds exposed to long-term stress (over several days or longer) had reduced baseline and stress-induced CORT concentrations, suggesting that chronically stressed birds suppress the stress response, possibly to avoid corollary effects on breeding and other behaviors (Cyr and Romero 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal stress physiology and body condition differ among co-occurring tropical finch species

et al. 2013

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Seasonal changes in avian hormonal stress responses and condition are well known for common species found at temperate and arctic latitudes, but declining and tropical species are poorly studied. This study compares stress and condition measures of co-occurring declining and non-declining tropical grass finch species in Australia. We monitored declining Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) and non-declining long-tailed and masked finches (Poepila acuticauda and P. personata) during two seasons that are potentially stressful: peak breeding (early dry season when food is plentiful) and moult (late dry to early wet season when food may be scarce). We measured body condition (muscle and fat), haematocrit, and stress response to capture using plasma corticosterone and binding globulin concentrations. All species had higher muscle and lower fat indices during breeding than moult. Haematocrit did not consistently differ between seasons. Long-tailed finches had higher stress responses during breeding than moult, similar to other passerines studied. Masked finches showed no seasonal changes in stress response. Gouldian finches had stress response patterns opposite to those of long-tailed finches, with higher stress responses during moult. However, seasonal trends in Gouldian and long-tailed finch stress responses sometimes differed between years or sites. The differences in stress response patterns between species suggest that the declining Gouldian finch is more sensitive to recent environmental changes which are thought to further reduce grass seed food resources during the late dry to early wet season. Retention of stress responsiveness during a protracted moult could increase the survival potential of Gouldian finches. This study highlights the utility of stress and condition indices to determine the sensitivity of co-occurring species to environmental conditions. This study compares stress and condition measures of co-occurring declining and non-declining tropical grass-finch species in Australia. We monitored declining Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) and non-declining long-tailed and masked finches (Poepila acuticauda and P. personata) during two seasons that are potentially stressful: peak breeding (early dry season when food is plentiful) and moult (late dry to early wet season when food may be scarce). We measured body condition (muscle and fat), haematocrit, and stress response to capture using plasma corticosterone and binding globulin concentrations. All species had higher muscle and lower fat indices during breeding than moult. Haematocrit did not consistently differ between seasons. Long-tailed finches had higher stress responses during breeding than moult, similar to other passerines studied. Masked finches showed no seasonal changes in stress response. Gouldian finches had stress response patterns opposite to those of long-tailed finches, with higher stress responses during moult.However, seasonal trends in Gouldian and long-tailed finch stress responses sometimes differed between years or ...

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Coping with stress in wild birds – the evolutionary foundations of stress responses

Dickens

Romero

2016

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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Chronic stress in free-living European starlings reduces corticosterone concentrations and reproductive success

Cited by 226 publications

References 35 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

Seasonal stress physiology and body condition differ among co-occurring tropical finch species

Coping with stress in wild birds – the evolutionary foundations of stress responses

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