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Breeding experience affects condition: blood metabolite levels over the course of incubation in a seabird
- Source :
- Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 180:835-845
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2010.
-
Abstract
- In vertebrates little is known about causes and correlates of differences in individual body condition. This is, however, essential if we are to gain an understanding of environmental influences on wild populations. To track changes in individual physiological state we analysed blood metabolite concentrations in breeding common terns Sterna hirundo. We selected birds to contrast sex, breeding experience, sampling year and nutritional state and collected repeated samples from individuals during incubation. Unlike cholesterol, triglyceride and uric acid levels strongly correlated with nutritional state. While cholesterol levels in males remained stable throughout incubation, comparatively lower levels were measured in females directly after egg-laying. In 2006, only highly experienced females showed increased cholesterol concentrations by mid-incubation, whereas less experienced females maintained reduced levels and were apparently unable to recover. In 2007, all females showed an increase in cholesterol by mid-incubation. Triglyceride levels did not differ between sexes, but concentrations were significantly higher in more experienced birds and were overall higher in 2007 than in 2006. Uric acid concentrations did not differ significantly. The variation in cholesterol and triglyceride levels can be explained by differences in foraging conditions, as food abundance, onset of breeding and mean clutch size indicate 2007 to be the superior year. Thus, environmental conditions and breeding experience play an important role for cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as the physiological state.
- Subjects :
- Male
Avian clutch size
medicine.medical_specialty
Physiology
Sterna
media_common.quotation_subject
Breeding
Environment
Biology
Biochemistry
Body Mass Index
Charadriiformes
chemistry.chemical_compound
Endocrinology
Animal science
Internal medicine
medicine
Animals
Incubation
Triglycerides
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
media_common
Sex Characteristics
Behavior, Animal
Triglyceride
Cholesterol
Reproduction
biology.organism_classification
Uric Acid
chemistry
Uric acid
Female
Animal Science and Zoology
Sex characteristics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1432136X and 01741578
- Volume :
- 180
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Comparative Physiology B
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....da171fab616b302a76515195ac312a9b