Resource allocation in Wilson's storm-petrels<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Oceanites oceanicus</Emphasis> determined by measurement of glucocorticoid excretion |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Petra?QuillfeldtEmail author Erich?M?stl |
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Institution: | 1.Institut für ?kologie,Friedrich-Schiller-Universit?t Jena, Jena,Germany;2.Institut für Biochemie,Veterin?rmedizinische Universit?t, Vienna,Austria;3.School of Bioscienes,Cardiff University, Cardiff,U.K. |
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Abstract: | When resources are limited, life-history theory predicts that long-lived animals should allocate available resources to body
maintenance rather than to reproduction in order to maximise their lifetime reproductive success. In the present study, we
estimated physiological stress in a small procellariiform seabird, the Wilson's storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus, as a means of understanding how limited resources are partitioned between provisioning parents and their chicks. We analysed
adrenocortical activity of Wilson's storm-petrels during the breeding season by measuring glucocorticoid (GC) excretion, using
an enzyme immunoassay measuring tetrahydrocorticosterone concentrations in extracts of faeces and urine of chicks and adults.
Faecal GC measures were negatively correlated with chick body condition, suggesting that measures of tetrahydrocorticosterone
in faeces and urine can be used to assess adrenal activity characteristic for physiological stress in Wilson's storm-petrels.
In the breeding season of 1999, the colony was subject to low food availability, and the faecal and urine GC levels of chicks
were elevated during these months of chronic starvation. In contrast, adults did not show elevated GC levels. The data thus
suggest that Wilson's storm-petrels respond to unfavourable conditions by maintaining their own body condition and reducing
provisioning of food to their chicks.
Communicated by R.F. Oliviera |
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Keywords: | Enzyme immunoassay Faeces Food availability Procellariiform seabirds Stress |
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