Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua)
Environmental conditions encountered by migratory seabirds in their wintering areas can shape their fitness. However, the underlying physiological mechanisms remain largely unknown as birds are relatively inaccessible during winter. To assess physiological condition during this period, we measured c...
Published in: | PLoS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3057563 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 |
id |
ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/3057563 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/3057563 2023-05-15T15:44:50+02:00 Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) Bourgeon, Sophie Leat, Eliza H. K. Magnusdottir, Ellen Furness, Robert W. Strøm, Hallvard Petersen, Aevar Gabrielsen, Geir W. Hanssen, Sveinn Are Bustnes, Jan Ove Bjørnøya, Iceland, Shetland, Africa, Europe, America 2014 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3057563 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 184830 PLoS ONE 2014, 9(6) urn:issn:1932-6203 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3057563 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 cristin:1145619 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2014 The Authors 9 6 e100439 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Peer reviewed 2014 ftninstnf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 2023-03-15T23:46:25Z Environmental conditions encountered by migratory seabirds in their wintering areas can shape their fitness. However, the underlying physiological mechanisms remain largely unknown as birds are relatively inaccessible during winter. To assess physiological condition during this period, we measured corticosterone concentrations in winter-grown primary feathers of female great skuas (Stercorarius skua) from three breeding colonies (Bjørnøya, Iceland, Shetland) with wintering areas identified from characteristic stable isotope signatures. We subsequently compared winter feather corticosterone levels between three wintering areas (Africa, Europe and America). Among females breeding in 2009, we found significant differences in feather corticosterone levels between wintering areas. Surprisingly, levels were significantly higher in Africa despite seemingly better local ecological factors (based on lower foraging effort). Moreover, contrary to our predictions, females sharing the same wintering grounds showed significant differences in feather corticosterone levels depending on their colony of origin suggesting that some skuas could be using suboptimal wintering areas. Among females wintering in Africa, Shetland females showed feather corticosterone levels on average 22% lower than Bjørnøya and Iceland females. Finally, the lack of significant relationships between winter feather corticosterone levels and any of the breeding phenology traits does not support the hypothesis of potential carry-over effects of winter feather corticosterone. Yet, the fitness consequences of elevated feather corticosterone levels remain to be determined. Text Bjørnøya Iceland Stercorarius skua Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA Bjørnøya ENVELOPE(-67.250,-67.250,-68.151,-68.151) PLoS ONE 9 6 e100439 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA |
op_collection_id |
ftninstnf |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Bourgeon, Sophie Leat, Eliza H. K. Magnusdottir, Ellen Furness, Robert W. Strøm, Hallvard Petersen, Aevar Gabrielsen, Geir W. Hanssen, Sveinn Are Bustnes, Jan Ove Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) |
topic_facet |
VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 |
description |
Environmental conditions encountered by migratory seabirds in their wintering areas can shape their fitness. However, the underlying physiological mechanisms remain largely unknown as birds are relatively inaccessible during winter. To assess physiological condition during this period, we measured corticosterone concentrations in winter-grown primary feathers of female great skuas (Stercorarius skua) from three breeding colonies (Bjørnøya, Iceland, Shetland) with wintering areas identified from characteristic stable isotope signatures. We subsequently compared winter feather corticosterone levels between three wintering areas (Africa, Europe and America). Among females breeding in 2009, we found significant differences in feather corticosterone levels between wintering areas. Surprisingly, levels were significantly higher in Africa despite seemingly better local ecological factors (based on lower foraging effort). Moreover, contrary to our predictions, females sharing the same wintering grounds showed significant differences in feather corticosterone levels depending on their colony of origin suggesting that some skuas could be using suboptimal wintering areas. Among females wintering in Africa, Shetland females showed feather corticosterone levels on average 22% lower than Bjørnøya and Iceland females. Finally, the lack of significant relationships between winter feather corticosterone levels and any of the breeding phenology traits does not support the hypothesis of potential carry-over effects of winter feather corticosterone. Yet, the fitness consequences of elevated feather corticosterone levels remain to be determined. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bourgeon, Sophie Leat, Eliza H. K. Magnusdottir, Ellen Furness, Robert W. Strøm, Hallvard Petersen, Aevar Gabrielsen, Geir W. Hanssen, Sveinn Are Bustnes, Jan Ove |
author_facet |
Bourgeon, Sophie Leat, Eliza H. K. Magnusdottir, Ellen Furness, Robert W. Strøm, Hallvard Petersen, Aevar Gabrielsen, Geir W. Hanssen, Sveinn Are Bustnes, Jan Ove |
author_sort |
Bourgeon, Sophie |
title |
Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) |
title_short |
Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) |
title_full |
Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) |
title_fullStr |
Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Feather Corticosterone Levels on Wintering GroundsHave No Carry-Over Effects on Breeding among ThreePopulations of Great Skuas (Stercorarius skua) |
title_sort |
feather corticosterone levels on wintering groundshave no carry-over effects on breeding among threepopulations of great skuas (stercorarius skua) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3057563 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 |
op_coverage |
Bjørnøya, Iceland, Shetland, Africa, Europe, America |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.250,-67.250,-68.151,-68.151) |
geographic |
Bjørnøya |
geographic_facet |
Bjørnøya |
genre |
Bjørnøya Iceland Stercorarius skua |
genre_facet |
Bjørnøya Iceland Stercorarius skua |
op_source |
9 6 e100439 |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 184830 PLoS ONE 2014, 9(6) urn:issn:1932-6203 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3057563 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 cristin:1145619 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2014 The Authors |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100439 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e100439 |
_version_ |
1766379194872233984 |