Feather corticosterone during non-breeding correlates with multiple measures of physiology during subsequent breeding in a migratory seabird.

• Published in: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology
• Main Authors: Fairhurst, Graham D, Champoux, Louise, Hobson, Keith A, Rail, Jean-François, Verreault, Jonathan, Guillemette, Magella, Montevecchi, William A, Brousseau, Pauline, Soos, Catherine
• Other Authors: University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon (U of S), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Centre de Recherche en Toxicologie de l'environnement (TOXEN), Département des Sciences Biologiques Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM)-Université du Québec à Montréal = University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM), Departement de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Institut Armand Frappier (INRS-IAF), Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Québec (INRS)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: Carbon-13; Carry-over effects; Deepwater Horizon oil spill; Feather biomarkers; Gulf of Mexico; Hormones; Migration; Nitrogen-15; Stable isotopes; Stress physiology; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal-riip.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-01535059; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2017.02.024

International audience Carry-over effects in migratory birds are likely mediated by physiological processes that are activated in response to environmental variation. Such processes affect body condition and/or reproductive success, and can include corticosterone (CORT) because this hormone responds to environmental stressors and influences energy balance. Few studies have considered how CORT levels during non-breeding relate to a broader physiological profile during subsequent breeding, and fewer still have considered measures other than body condition. To explore CORT's potential role in carry-over effects, we investigated the relationship between CORT and foraging ecology of northern gannets (Morus bassanus) during the non-breeding period, and tested for associations between these factors and variation in a suite of physiological and biochemical metrics during subsequent breeding. Northern gannets are the largest seabird top predator in the North Atlantic and were among the hardest hit by the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. We used light-level geolocators to confirm winter origins of individuals in our study. No interrelationships were found among levels of CORT from feathers grown during non-breeding (CORTf) and variation in foraging ecology, measured by stable isotopes of carbon (δ(13)C) and nitrogen (δ(15)N) from the same feathers. CORTf was correlated negatively with hematocrit and positively with triglyceride measured during subsequent incubation, and explained more variation in these variables than did body mass during incubation. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that energy management, measured using CORTf, during non-breeding carries over to influence physiological measures other than body condition. Gannets that previously wintered within the Gulf of Mexico in the years following the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout had higher levels of CORTf compared to birds that wintered along the Atlantic coast, suggesting an increased energetic cost associated with ...