Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins
International audience Corticosterone, the main stress hormone in birds, mediates resource allocation, allowing animals to adjust their physiology and behaviour to changes in the environment. Incubation is a time and energy-consuming phase of the avian reproductive cycle. It may be terminated premat...
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fthalin2p3:oai:HAL:hal-00768267v1 2024-05-12T08:10:17+00:00 Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins Mathilde Thierry, Anne Massemin, Sylvie Handrich, Yves Raclot, Thierry Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC) Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC) Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2013 https://hal.science/hal-00768267 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier hal-00768267 https://hal.science/hal-00768267 ISSN: 0018-506X EISSN: 1095-6867 Hormones and Behavior https://hal.science/hal-00768267 Hormones and Behavior, 2013, 63 (3), pp.475-483 egg temperature and rotation rate glucocorticoids incubation behaviour Pygoscelis adeliae seabird weather conditions [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2013 fthalin2p3 2024-04-17T15:01:08Z International audience Corticosterone, the main stress hormone in birds, mediates resource allocation, allowing animals to adjust their physiology and behaviour to changes in the environment. Incubation is a time and energy-consuming phase of the avian reproductive cycle. It may be terminated prematurely, when the parents' energy stores are depleted or when environmental conditions are severe. In this study, the effects of experimentally elevated baseline corticosterone levels on the parental investment of incubating male Adélie penguins were investigated. Incubation duration and reproductive success of 60 penguins were recorded. The clutches of some birds were replaced by dummy eggs, which recorded egg temperatures and rotation rates, enabling a detailed investigation of incubation behaviour. Corticosterone levels of treated birds were 2.4-fold higher than those of controls 18 days post treatment. Exogenous corticosterone triggered nest desertion in 61% of the treated birds; consequently reducing reproductive success, indicating that corticosterone can reduce or disrupt parental investment. Regarding egg temperatures, hypothermic events became more frequent and more pronounced in treated birds, before these birds eventually abandoned their nest. The treatment also significantly decreased incubation temperatures by 1.3 °C and lengthened the incubation period by 2.1 days. However, number of chicks at hatching was similar among successful nests, regardless of treatment. Weather conditions appeared to be particularly important in determining the extent to which corticosterone levels affected the behaviour of penguins, as treated penguins were more sensitive to severe weather conditions. This underlines the importance of considering the interactions of organisms with their environment in studies of animal behaviour and ecophysiology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Pygoscelis adeliae HAL-IN2P3 (Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL-IN2P3 (Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules) |
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fthalin2p3 |
language |
English |
topic |
egg temperature and rotation rate glucocorticoids incubation behaviour Pygoscelis adeliae seabird weather conditions [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
egg temperature and rotation rate glucocorticoids incubation behaviour Pygoscelis adeliae seabird weather conditions [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] [SDE]Environmental Sciences Mathilde Thierry, Anne Massemin, Sylvie Handrich, Yves Raclot, Thierry Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins |
topic_facet |
egg temperature and rotation rate glucocorticoids incubation behaviour Pygoscelis adeliae seabird weather conditions [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience Corticosterone, the main stress hormone in birds, mediates resource allocation, allowing animals to adjust their physiology and behaviour to changes in the environment. Incubation is a time and energy-consuming phase of the avian reproductive cycle. It may be terminated prematurely, when the parents' energy stores are depleted or when environmental conditions are severe. In this study, the effects of experimentally elevated baseline corticosterone levels on the parental investment of incubating male Adélie penguins were investigated. Incubation duration and reproductive success of 60 penguins were recorded. The clutches of some birds were replaced by dummy eggs, which recorded egg temperatures and rotation rates, enabling a detailed investigation of incubation behaviour. Corticosterone levels of treated birds were 2.4-fold higher than those of controls 18 days post treatment. Exogenous corticosterone triggered nest desertion in 61% of the treated birds; consequently reducing reproductive success, indicating that corticosterone can reduce or disrupt parental investment. Regarding egg temperatures, hypothermic events became more frequent and more pronounced in treated birds, before these birds eventually abandoned their nest. The treatment also significantly decreased incubation temperatures by 1.3 °C and lengthened the incubation period by 2.1 days. However, number of chicks at hatching was similar among successful nests, regardless of treatment. Weather conditions appeared to be particularly important in determining the extent to which corticosterone levels affected the behaviour of penguins, as treated penguins were more sensitive to severe weather conditions. This underlines the importance of considering the interactions of organisms with their environment in studies of animal behaviour and ecophysiology. |
author2 |
Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC) Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC) Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mathilde Thierry, Anne Massemin, Sylvie Handrich, Yves Raclot, Thierry |
author_facet |
Mathilde Thierry, Anne Massemin, Sylvie Handrich, Yves Raclot, Thierry |
author_sort |
Mathilde Thierry, Anne |
title |
Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins |
title_short |
Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins |
title_full |
Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins |
title_fullStr |
Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins |
title_full_unstemmed |
Elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating Adélie penguins |
title_sort |
elevated corticosterone levels and severe weather conditions decrease parental investment of incubating adélie penguins |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00768267 |
genre |
Pygoscelis adeliae |
genre_facet |
Pygoscelis adeliae |
op_source |
ISSN: 0018-506X EISSN: 1095-6867 Hormones and Behavior https://hal.science/hal-00768267 Hormones and Behavior, 2013, 63 (3), pp.475-483 |
op_relation |
hal-00768267 https://hal.science/hal-00768267 |
_version_ |
1798853717948104704 |