The relationship between fitness and baseline glucocorticoids in a passerine bird

Bonier, Frances; Moore, Ignacio T.; Martin, Paul R.; Robertson, Raleigh J.

doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2008.12.013

Cited by 271 publications

(254 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…In contrast, both the corticosterone-fitness hypothesis (Bonier et al 2009a) and the concept of an acute stress-induced corticosterone response predict negative relationships between plasma corticosterone, parental quality, and current reproduction. Our data do not support either of these concepts or interpretations and instead are more closely aligned with several recent studies that show positive relationships between elevated corticosterone, increased locomotor activity, and foraging behavior (Astheimer et al 1992;Pravosudov 2003;Bonier et al 2011), as well as increased parental quality and parental care (Love et al 2004;Angelier et al 2007aAngelier et al , 2008Bonier et al 2009bBonier et al , 2011.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Corticosterone Predicts Foraging Behavior and Parental Care in Macaroni Penguins

Crossin

Trathan

Phillips

et al. 2012

The American Naturalist

141

126

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Dryad data: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f385721n.abstract: Corticosterone has received considerable attention as the principal hormonal mediator of allostasis or physiological stress in wild animals. More recently, it has also been implicated in the regulation of parental care in breeding birds, particularly with respect to individual variation in foraging behavior and provisioning effort. There is also evidence that prolactin can work either inversely or additively with corticosterone to achieve this. Here we test the hypothesis that endogenous corticosterone plays a key physiological role in the control of foraging behavior and parental care, using a combination of exogenous corticosterone treatment, time-depth telemetry, and physiological sampling of female macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) during the brood-guard period of chick rearing, while simultaneously monitoring patterns of prolactin secretion. Plasma corticosterone levels were significantly higher in females given exogenous implants relative to those receiving sham implants. Increased corticosterone levels were associated with significantly higher levels of foraging and diving activity and greater mass gain in implanted females. Elevated plasma corticosterone was also associated with an apparent fitness benefit in the form of increased chick mass. Plasma prolactin levels did not correlate with corticosterone levels at any time, nor was prolactin correlated with any measure of foraging behavior or parental care. Our results provide support for the corticosterone-adaptation hypothesis, which predicts that higher corticosterone levels support increased foraging activity and parental effort.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Corticosterone Predicts Foraging Behavior and Parental Care in Macaroni Penguins

Crossin

Trathan

Phillips

et al. 2012

The American Naturalist

141

126

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“…Previous studies on songbirds and seabirds found that parents with higher levels of baseline corticosterone typically had lower nesting success, supporting the idea that elevated baseline concentrations of corticosterone reflect the condition of the parents and/or environmental quality (Love et al, 2004;Angelier et al, 2007;Groscolas et al, 2008;Bonier et al, 2009b;Kitaysky et al, 2010;Ouyang et al, 2011Ouyang et al, , 2013bCrossin et al, 2012). The main factors driving nesting success in these studies was food availability, often in combination with cold weather, and the effect of these variables on the condition of the parents.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

“…Typically, baseline corticosteronethe major glucocorticoid of birds and many other vertebrates-is elevated during the parental phase (reviewed by Romero, 2002) reflecting the increased energetic demands (and allostatic state) of parenting. As a consequence, corticosterone has frequently been considered a physiological correlate of parental resource allocation to offspring care (= parental expenditure sensu Smiseth et al, 2012; see e.g., Love et al, 2004;Kern et al, 2005;Angelier et al, 2007;Groscolas et al, 2008;Bonier et al, 2009b;Kitaysky et al, 2010;Ouyang et al, 2011;Crossin et al, 2012;Ouyang et al, 2013a;Villavicencio et al, 2014). If baseline corticosterone concentrations reflect parental expenditure, then individuals with a lower parental expenditure should express lower levels of the hormone than individuals with higher parental expenditure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corticosterone Concentrations Reflect Parental Expenditure in Contrasting Mating Systems of Two Coucal Species

2017

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The period of parental care can be a demanding life-history stage because parents need to find sufficient resources to feed themselves and their offspring. Often, this is reflected by elevated baseline levels of glucocorticoids-hormones that regulate metabolism and energy allocation. During 10 breeding seasons, we studied plasma corticosterone (the major avian glucocorticoid) concentrations as a physiological correlate of parental expenditure in two closely related coucal species with fundamentally different mating systems: the sex-role reversed black coucal (Centropus grillii) with female competition and male-only care and the socially monogamous and biparental white-browed coucal (C. superciliosus). The two species live in the same habitat and share a similar breeding biology. However, female black coucals aggressively defend a territory and produce many eggs for their various male partners, and male black coucals feed their offspring much more frequently and rest less often than female and male white-browed coucals. These differences were reflected in baseline and stress-induced concentrations of corticosterone: male black coucals had higher baseline and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations when they were feeding young than outside a feeding context, and also the concentrations of female black coucals were higher during the main period of breeding when they defended territories and produced multiple clutches. In contrast, baseline and stress-induced concentrations of corticosterone in female and male white-browed coucals did not differ between periods when they were feeding young and periods without dependent offspring. Paradoxically, on an individual basis feeding effort was negatively related to baseline corticosterone in male black coucals and female white-browed coucals. In conclusion, corticosterone concentrations of coucals reflected differences in competition and parental roles and support the notion that a switch from biparental to uniparental care and an increase in mate competition may come at a physiological and energetic cost.

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“…Most comparisons (60%) found that individuals with high baseline GCs or low experimental increases in GCs exhibited increased parental care, whereas individuals with high stress GCs or high experimental increases in GCs exhibited decreased parental care (Table S2; Figure 4). For example, Great Tits with higher baseline GCs fed their young more (Ouyang, Muturi, et al., 2013) and baseline GCs in parents were positively associated with offspring growth (a proxy of parental care) in Mourning Doves ( Zenaida macroura , Miller et al., 2009), female Tree Swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor , Bonier, Moore, Martin, & Robertson, 2009) and House Sparrows ( Parus major, Ouyang, Sharp, Dawson, Quetting, & Hau, 2011). This positive trend was found by 48% of comparisons where low increases in GCs (increases within baseline range) were measured.…”

Section: Evidence That Variation In Stress Physiology Is Associated Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior

Raulo

Dantzer

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The causes and consequences of individual differences in animal behavior and stress physiology are increasingly studied in wild animals, yet the possibility that stress physiology underlies individual variation in social behavior has received less attention. In this review, we bring together these study areas and focus on understanding how the activity of the vertebrate neuroendocrine stress axis (HPA‐axis) may underlie individual differences in social behavior in wild animals. We first describe a continuum of vertebrate social behaviors spanning from initial social tendencies (proactive behavior) to social behavior occurring in reproductive contexts (parental care, sexual pair‐bonding) and lastly to social behavior occurring in nonreproductive contexts (nonsexual bonding, group‐level cooperation). We then perform a qualitative review of existing literature to address the correlative and causal association between measures of HPA‐axis activity (glucocorticoid levels or GCs) and each of these types of social behavior. As expected, elevated HPA‐axis activity can inhibit social behavior associated with initial social tendencies (approaching conspecifics) and reproduction. However, elevated HPA‐axis activity may also enhance more elaborate social behavior outside of reproductive contexts, such as alloparental care behavior. In addition, the effect of GCs on social behavior can depend upon the sociality of the stressor (cause of increase in GCs) and the severity of stress (extent of increase in GCs). Our review shows that the while the associations between stress responses and sociality are diverse, the role of HPA‐axis activity behind social behavior may shift toward more facilitating and less inhibiting in more social species, providing insight into how stress physiology and social systems may co‐evolve.

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The relationship between fitness and baseline glucocorticoids in a passerine bird

Cited by 271 publications

References 53 publications

Corticosterone Predicts Foraging Behavior and Parental Care in Macaroni Penguins

Corticosterone Predicts Foraging Behavior and Parental Care in Macaroni Penguins

Corticosterone Concentrations Reflect Parental Expenditure in Contrasting Mating Systems of Two Coucal Species

Associations between glucocorticoids and sociality across a continuum of vertebrate social behavior

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