Corticosterone in thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri chicks : diel rhythm, timing of fledging and nutritional stress - Research portal of Justus Liebig University Giessen:

Journal article

Corticosterone in thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri chicks : diel rhythm, timing of fledging and nutritional stress

Authors list: Quillfeldt, P; Poisbleau, M; Chastel, O; Masello, JF

Publication year: 2007

Pages: 919-925

Journal: The Science of nature = Naturwissenschaften

Volume number: 94

Issue number: 11

ISSN: 0028-1042

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-007-0275-6

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:
Glucocorticosteroids (GCs) of the hypothalam-pituitary-adrenal axis play a role in association with both stressful events and daily life processes. However, relatively little is known about the role of GCs in relation to daily and seasonal life processes in animals in the wild. In this paper, we present data on basal levels of plasma corticosterone CORT in chicks of a pelagic seabird, the thin-billed prion, Pachyptila belcheri, during two predictable changes in demands, the daily activity pattern and the preparation for fledging. By comparing chicks fed recently with unfed chicks, we test how GC levels are modified according to nutritional condition. In accordance with their nocturnal feeding rhythm, chicks had a clear daily rhythm with increased CORT secretion at night, but CORT levels during the active phase were also highly elevated in unfed chicks compared with fed chicks. Close to fledging, chicks rapidly increased basal CORT levels, and again unfed chicks had higher levels than fed chicks, although the age effect here was stronger than the effect of recent feeding. The present data thus support the hypothesis that GC levels are adjusted to life stages with predictable changes in demands, but food availability and/or internal energy stores also affect the level to which GCs increase.

Authors/Editors

- Uni.-Prof. Dr. Petra Quillfeldt

Citation Styles

Harvard Citation style: Quillfeldt, P., Poisbleau, M., Chastel, O. and Masello, J. (2007) Corticosterone in thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri chicks : diel rhythm, timing of fledging and nutritional stress, The Science of nature = Naturwissenschaften, 94(11), pp. 919-925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-007-0275-6

APA Citation style: Quillfeldt, P., Poisbleau, M., Chastel, O., & Masello, J. (2007). Corticosterone in thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri chicks : diel rhythm, timing of fledging and nutritional stress. The Science of nature = Naturwissenschaften. 94(11), 919-925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-007-0275-6