(Table 1) Characteristics of breeding male Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) treated with varying degrees of corticosterone, Adélie land, Antarctica, supplement to: Spée, Marion; Marchal, Lorène; Lazin, David; Le Maho, Yvon; Chastel, Olivier; Beaulieu, Michaël; Raclot, Thierry (2011): Exogenous corticosterone and nest abandonment: A study in a long-lived bird, the Adélie penguin. Hormones and Behavior, 60(4), 362-370

Breeding individuals enter an emergency life-history stage when their body reserves reach a minimum threshold. Consequently, they redirect current activity toward survival, leading to egg abandonment in birds. Corticosterone (CORT) is known to promote this stage. How and to what extent CORT triggers...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Spée, Marion, Marchal, Lorène, Lazin, David, Le Maho, Yvon, Chastel, Olivier, Beaulieu, Michaël, Raclot, Thierry
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2011
Subjects:
Comment
Treatment
Pygoscelis adeliae
DATE/TIME
Standard deviation
Pygoscelis adeliae, mass
Pygoscelis adeliae, standard deviation
Date
Pygoscelis adeliae, egg laying date
Eggs per clutch
Eggs per clutch, standard error
Pygoscelis adeliae, hatching date
Incubation duration
Number
Research station
International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY
Yvon
Antarc*
Antarctica
International Polar Year
IPY
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.837408
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.837408
Description
Summary:Breeding individuals enter an emergency life-history stage when their body reserves reach a minimum threshold. Consequently, they redirect current activity toward survival, leading to egg abandonment in birds. Corticosterone (CORT) is known to promote this stage. How and to what extent CORT triggers egg abandonment when breeding is associated with prolonged fasting, however, requires further investigation. We manipulated free-living male Adelie penguins with CORT-pellets before their laying period. We then examined their behavioral response with respect to nest abandonment in parallel with their prolactin levels (regulating parental care), and the subsequent effects of treatment on breeding success in relieved birds. Exogenous CORT triggered nest abandonment in 60% of the treated penguins -14 days after treatment and induced a concomitant decline in prolactin levels. Interestingly, prolactin levels in treated penguins that did not abandon their nest were higher at the point of implantation and also after being relieved by females, when compared with abandoning penguins. Among successful birds, the treatment did not affect the number of chicks, nor the brood mass. Our results show the involvement of CORT in the decision-making process regarding egg abandonment in Adelie penguins when incubation is associated with a natural long fast. However, we suggest that CORT alone is not sufficient to trigger nest abandonment but that 1) prolactin levels need to reach a low threshold value, and 2) a rise in proteolysis (i.e. utilization of protein as main energy substrate) seems also to be required. : DATE/TIME = implantation date. Chicks reach their peak body mass after 42 to 45 days according to Ainley (2002). Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150

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