Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns
Previous studies have related levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT) of seabirds to variation in foraging conditions during the breeding period, but it is unclear whether similar relationships between foraging conditions and baseline CORT exist during other life stages. We validated methods for iden...
Published in: | Physiological and Biochemical Zoology |
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ftunivwindsor:oai:scholar.uwindsor.ca:ibiopub-1094 2023-06-11T04:13:56+02:00 Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns Palm, E. C. Esler, D. Anderson, E. M. Williams, T. D. Love, O. P. Wilson, M. T. 2013-05-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/95 https://doi.org/10.1086/670156 https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/context/ibiopub/article/1094/viewcontent/Baseline_Corticosterone_in_Wintering_Marine_Birds__Methodological.pdf unknown Scholarship at UWindsor https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/95 doi:10.1086/670156 https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/context/ibiopub/article/1094/viewcontent/Baseline_Corticosterone_in_Wintering_Marine_Birds__Methodological.pdf Integrative Biology Publications Integrative Biology text 2013 ftunivwindsor https://doi.org/10.1086/670156 2023-05-06T19:11:27Z Previous studies have related levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT) of seabirds to variation in foraging conditions during the breeding period, but it is unclear whether similar relationships between foraging conditions and baseline CORT exist during other life stages. We validated methods for identifying baseline CORT of lethally sampled birds and assessed variation in baseline CORT relative to winter habitat conditions. We collected free-living white-winged scoters (Melanitta fusca) at four wintering sites during December and February. We found increasing CORT values beyond 3 min after time since flush (the duration between initial flush and death), presumably reflecting acute stress responses. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain baseline CORT from lethally sampled birds if the time from initial flush until death is measured. Our study sites varied appreciably in exposure to wind and waves, predation danger, diving depths, and the fraction of preferred foods in scoter diets. Despite these habitat differences, baseline CORT did not vary across sites or winter periods. We interpret this lack of variation as evidence that birds select wintering areas where they can successfully manage site-specific costs and maintain physiological homeostasis. © 2013 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Text Melanitta fusca University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 86 3 346 353 |
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University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor |
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ftunivwindsor |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Integrative Biology |
spellingShingle |
Integrative Biology Palm, E. C. Esler, D. Anderson, E. M. Williams, T. D. Love, O. P. Wilson, M. T. Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
topic_facet |
Integrative Biology |
description |
Previous studies have related levels of plasma corticosterone (CORT) of seabirds to variation in foraging conditions during the breeding period, but it is unclear whether similar relationships between foraging conditions and baseline CORT exist during other life stages. We validated methods for identifying baseline CORT of lethally sampled birds and assessed variation in baseline CORT relative to winter habitat conditions. We collected free-living white-winged scoters (Melanitta fusca) at four wintering sites during December and February. We found increasing CORT values beyond 3 min after time since flush (the duration between initial flush and death), presumably reflecting acute stress responses. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain baseline CORT from lethally sampled birds if the time from initial flush until death is measured. Our study sites varied appreciably in exposure to wind and waves, predation danger, diving depths, and the fraction of preferred foods in scoter diets. Despite these habitat differences, baseline CORT did not vary across sites or winter periods. We interpret this lack of variation as evidence that birds select wintering areas where they can successfully manage site-specific costs and maintain physiological homeostasis. © 2013 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. |
format |
Text |
author |
Palm, E. C. Esler, D. Anderson, E. M. Williams, T. D. Love, O. P. Wilson, M. T. |
author_facet |
Palm, E. C. Esler, D. Anderson, E. M. Williams, T. D. Love, O. P. Wilson, M. T. |
author_sort |
Palm, E. C. |
title |
Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
title_short |
Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
title_full |
Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
title_fullStr |
Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
title_full_unstemmed |
Baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: Methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
title_sort |
baseline corticosterone in wintering marine birds: methodological considerations and ecological patterns |
publisher |
Scholarship at UWindsor |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/95 https://doi.org/10.1086/670156 https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/context/ibiopub/article/1094/viewcontent/Baseline_Corticosterone_in_Wintering_Marine_Birds__Methodological.pdf |
genre |
Melanitta fusca |
genre_facet |
Melanitta fusca |
op_source |
Integrative Biology Publications |
op_relation |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/95 doi:10.1086/670156 https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/context/ibiopub/article/1094/viewcontent/Baseline_Corticosterone_in_Wintering_Marine_Birds__Methodological.pdf |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1086/670156 |
container_title |
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology |
container_volume |
86 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
346 |
op_container_end_page |
353 |
_version_ |
1768391407423193088 |