Long-term survival effect of corticosterone manipulation in Black-legged kittiwakes.

• Published in: General and Comparative Endocrinology
• Main Authors: Goutte, Aurélie, Angelier, Frédéric, Welcker, Jorg, Moe, Børge, Clément-Chastel, Céline, Gabrielsen, Geir Wing, Bech, Claus, Chastel, Olivier
• Other Authors: Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Norvegian Polar Research Institute (NPRI), Norwegian Polar Institute, Department of Biology Trondheim (IBI NTNU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim (NTNU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Division of Arctic Ecology (NINA), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; rissa tridactyla
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00527719; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2010.03.018

International audience The secretion of corticosterone in response to stress is thought to be an adaptive mechanism, which promotes immediate survival at the expense of current reproduction. However, at the individual level, the hypothesis of a corticosterone-related survival appears to be complex. In this study, we tested this hypothesis by combining for the first time an experimental manipulation of corticosterone levels and capture-mark-recapture (CMR) models. To do so, we increased corticosterone levels of chick-rearing Black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) via subcutaneous implants. Then, we monitored the long-term survival of kittiwakes over the 2 consecutive years. Corticosterone-implanted birds showed a significantly lower apparent annual survival than sham-implanted ones (46.9% vs 77.8%). This result is supported by the well-known deleterious effects of elevated corticosterone levels on cognitive and immune functions. Alternately and in the light of recent studies, our experimental manipulation may have down-regulated the endogenous secretion of corticosterone through a prolonged negative feedback. If so, the corticosterone-implanted kittiwakes may have failed to trigger an appropriate stress response during subsequent life-threatening perturbations, hence being unable to adjust their behavior and physiology toward immediate survival. This study highlights the complex long-term consequences of corticosterone manipulation on fitness in free-living vertebrates.