Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds
Haematological parameters, particularly haematocrit, are frequently used in assessing condition in birds. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) overcomes some of the drawbacks associated with measuring haematocrits and therefore should be a better condition index. We investigated the relationship between th...
Published in: | Ecology Letters |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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1999
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1461-0248.1999.00088.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x |
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crwiley:10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x 2024-06-02T08:05:16+00:00 Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds Bearhop Griffiths Orr Furness 1999 http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1461-0248.1999.00088.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology Letters volume 2, issue 6, page 352-356 ISSN 1461-023X 1461-0248 journal-article 1999 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x 2024-05-03T10:52:54Z Haematological parameters, particularly haematocrit, are frequently used in assessing condition in birds. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) overcomes some of the drawbacks associated with measuring haematocrits and therefore should be a better condition index. We investigated the relationship between these blood parameters and the breeding performances of great skuas Catharacta skua . As predicted from activity budgets of the sexes, male MCVs were significantly positively correlated with hatch date and the MCVs of both sexes were negatively correlated with the number of chicks fledged. No correlations existed between these breeding parameters and haematocrit. Since males provision females and chicks, they probably influence breeding performance via foraging abilities, whereas in females nutritional investment may be more important. This is the first study of a free‐living/nondomesticated vertebrate population in which these kinds of relationship have been demonstrated and we conclude that MCV is a useful measure of condition. Article in Journal/Newspaper Catharacta skua Wiley Online Library Ecology Letters 2 6 352 356 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Haematological parameters, particularly haematocrit, are frequently used in assessing condition in birds. Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) overcomes some of the drawbacks associated with measuring haematocrits and therefore should be a better condition index. We investigated the relationship between these blood parameters and the breeding performances of great skuas Catharacta skua . As predicted from activity budgets of the sexes, male MCVs were significantly positively correlated with hatch date and the MCVs of both sexes were negatively correlated with the number of chicks fledged. No correlations existed between these breeding parameters and haematocrit. Since males provision females and chicks, they probably influence breeding performance via foraging abilities, whereas in females nutritional investment may be more important. This is the first study of a free‐living/nondomesticated vertebrate population in which these kinds of relationship have been demonstrated and we conclude that MCV is a useful measure of condition. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bearhop Griffiths Orr Furness |
spellingShingle |
Bearhop Griffiths Orr Furness Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds |
author_facet |
Bearhop Griffiths Orr Furness |
author_sort |
Bearhop |
title |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds |
title_short |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds |
title_full |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds |
title_fullStr |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as a measure of condition in birds |
title_sort |
mean corpuscular volume (mcv) as a measure of condition in birds |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1461-0248.1999.00088.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x |
genre |
Catharacta skua |
genre_facet |
Catharacta skua |
op_source |
Ecology Letters volume 2, issue 6, page 352-356 ISSN 1461-023X 1461-0248 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00088.x |
container_title |
Ecology Letters |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
352 |
op_container_end_page |
356 |
_version_ |
1800750065540661248 |