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Brown JM, Bouten W, Camphuysen KCJ, Nolet BA, Shamoun-Baranes J. Energetic and behavioral consequences of migration: an empirical evaluation in the context of the full annual cycle. Sci Rep 2023; 13:1210. [PMID: 36681726 PMCID: PMC9867707 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28198-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Seasonal migrations are used by diverse animal taxa, yet the costs and benefits of migrating have rarely been empirically examined. The aim of this study was to determine how migration influences two ecological currencies, energy expenditure and time allocated towards different behaviors, in a full annual cycle context. We compare these currencies among lesser black-backed gulls that range from short- (< 250 km) to long-distance (> 4500 km) migrants. Daily time-activity budgets were reconstructed from tri-axial acceleration and GPS, which, in conjunction with a bioenergetics model to estimate thermoregulatory costs, enabled us to estimate daily energy expenditure throughout the year. We found that migration strategy had no effect on annual energy expenditure, however, energy expenditure through time deviated more from the annual average as migration distance increased. Patterns in time-activity budgets were similar across strategies, suggesting migration strategy does not limit behavioral adjustments required for other annual cycle stages (breeding, molt, wintering). Variation among individuals using the same strategy was high, suggesting that daily behavioral decisions (e.g. foraging strategy) contribute more towards energy expenditure than an individual's migration strategy. These findings provide unprecedented new understanding regarding the relative importance of fine versus broad-scale behavioral strategies towards annual energy expenditures.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Morgan Brown
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Willem Bouten
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Kees C J Camphuysen
- Department of Coastal Systems, NIOZ Royal Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands
| | - Bart A Nolet
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Judy Shamoun-Baranes
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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2
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Bushuev A, Zubkova E, Tolstenkov O, Kerimov A. Basal metabolic rate in free-ranging tropical birds lacks long-term repeatability and is influenced by ambient temperature. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2021; 335:668-677. [PMID: 34358408 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Tropical birds live longer, have smaller clutches and invest more resources into self-maintenance than temperate species. These "slow" life-histories in tropical birds are accompanied by low basal metabolic rate (BMR). It has recently been suggested that the low BMR of tropical species may be related not to their slow "pace of life" or high ambient temperatures (Ta ) in tropical latitudes, but to the stability of environmental conditions in tropics. Since the repeatability of metabolic traits is higher in stable environments, such as laboratory conditions, we predicted that long-term repeatability of BMR in a tropical climate should be higher than in a temperate one. Contrary to our predictions, the repeatability of mass-independent BMR in 64 individuals of free-living tropical birds from Vietnam was low and insignificant after the species affiliation was taken into account. It indicates that BMR cannot be used as an individual long-term characteristic of tropical birds. On the other hand, tropical birds showed consistent differences in their mass-independent BMR at the interspecific level. Using BMR measurements from 1543 individuals of 134 species, we also found that different characteristics of Ta within the week preceding BMR measurements had a significant impact on the mass-independent BMR of tropical birds. The most significant effect was the difference between the absolute maximum and minimum Ta within a single week. Our results indicate that the physiology of tropical birds is more subject to changes than would be expected based on the notion of the stability of climatic conditions in the tropics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey Bushuev
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.,Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technological Center, Hanoi, Vietnam.,A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ekaterina Zubkova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.,Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technological Center, Hanoi, Vietnam.,A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Oleg Tolstenkov
- Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technological Center, Hanoi, Vietnam.,A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anvar Kerimov
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.,Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technological Center, Hanoi, Vietnam.,A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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3
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Buttemer W, Addison B, Klasing K. The energy cost of feather replacement is not intrinsically inefficient. CAN J ZOOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2019-0170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Feathers serve a diversity of functions in birds and their continuous use and exposure to the environment requires a scheduled moult to maintain their full functionality. As feathers represent about 25% of a bird’s protein content, moult is expected to impose substantial energy and nutrient demands, but perhaps not to the extent reported. Energy conversion efficiencies for feather formation are among the lowest for any biological structure examined, but this assumes that increases in maintenance energy requirements (minimum resting metabolic rate (RMRmin)) during moult are predominately due to feather synthetic costs. We tested this assumption by comparing the RMRminand protein turnover rates of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758)) during peak moult and in a non-moulting cohort before and 12 days after having a similar amount of feathers plucked. Replacement of plucked feathers had no effect on metabolic rate, whereas RMRminwas 28% higher in moulting than in non-moulting House Sparrows. Protein turnover rates were lowest in non-moulting birds, but rate differences between non-moulting and moulting birds were threefold higher than those between non-moulting and plucked House Sparrows. Thus, the energy inefficiencies reported for feather replacement are mainly due to costs associated with coincident processes rather than being a direct cost of feather synthesis per se.
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Affiliation(s)
- W.A. Buttemer
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia
| | - B.A. Addison
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia
| | - K.C. Klasing
- Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-5270, USA
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4
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Viain A, Guillemette M. Does Water Temperature Affect the Timing and Duration of Remigial Moult in Sea Ducks? An Experimental Approach. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0155253. [PMID: 27177039 PMCID: PMC4866700 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Aquatic birds have high cost of thermoregulation, especially during the moulting period, yet the effect of water temperature on the moulting strategy of aquatic birds has rarely been studied. Our general hypothesis is that energy savings associated with lower thermoregulation costs would be allocated to moulting processes. We predicted that aquatic birds moulting in warm water would have a higher level of body reserves, a faster growth rate of feathers, and an earlier remigial moult onset compared with birds moulting in cold water. We used the common eider (Somateria mollissima dresseri), a large sea duck, as the model species. Captive individuals were experimentally exposed to warm (18°C) and cold (8°C) water treatments during a three year period with individuals swapped between treatments. We found a similar feather growth rate for the two water temperature treatments and in contrast to our predictions, eiders exposed to warm water had a lower body mass and showed a delayed onset of remigial moult of approximately 7 days compared with those exposed to cold water. Our data indicate that body mass variations influence the timing of moult in unexpected ways and we suggest that it likely controls the occurrence of wing moult through a hormonal cascade. This study emphasizes the importance of improving our knowledge of the effects of water temperature on remigial moult of aquatic birds, to better assert the potential effects of global warming on their survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouck Viain
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Magella Guillemette
- Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
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Kulaszewicz I, Wojczulanis-Jakubas K, Jakubas D. Variation of the Savi's Warbler (Locustella luscinioides) Leucocyte Profiles and Body Condition in Relation to Age, Sex and Moult. ANN ZOOL FENN 2015. [DOI: 10.5735/086.052.0507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Buttemer WA, Addison BA, Astheimer LB. Lack of seasonal and moult-related stress modulation in an opportunistically breeding bird: The white-plumed honeyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus). Horm Behav 2015; 76:34-40. [PMID: 25701624 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2014] [Revised: 02/07/2015] [Accepted: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "SBN 2014". In most vertebrate species, glucocorticoid levels and stress sensitivity vary in relation to season and life-history stage. In birds, baseline corticosterone (CORT) and stress sensitivity are typically highest while breeding and decrease substantially during moult. Because elevated CORT adversely affects protein synthesis, moult-related CORT suppression is thought to be necessary for forming high-quality feathers. Surprisingly, some passerine species lack moult-related CORT suppression, but these are distinguished by having slow rates of moult and being opportunistic breeders. We examined baseline and stress-induced CORT levels in an opportunistically breeding Australian passerine, the white-plumed honeyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus). Although this species has a slower moult rate than high-latitude breeders, it differs little from north-temperate passerines. Neither baseline nor stress-induced CORT levels varied with season (winter, spring or summer), sex or moult status in adult birds. While breeding tended to be highest in early spring through late summer, laparotomies revealed only limited reduction in testicular size in males the year round. In all but one sampling period, at least some females displayed follicular hierarchy. Breeding usually coincides with outbreaks of phytophagous insects, which can happen at any time of the year. This results in moult/breeding overlap when infestations occur in late spring or summer. The ability of this species to moult and breed at the same time while having breeding-levels of CORT demonstrates that CORT suppression is not a prerequisite for synthesis of high-quality feathers. An experimental design incorporating moulting and non-moulting phenotypes is suggested to test the functional significance of CORT suppression in other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- William A Buttemer
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
| | - BriAnne A Addison
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Lee B Astheimer
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
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7
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Ruf T, Geiser F. Daily torpor and hibernation in birds and mammals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 90:891-926. [PMID: 25123049 PMCID: PMC4351926 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 501] [Impact Index Per Article: 55.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2013] [Revised: 07/16/2014] [Accepted: 07/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Many birds and mammals drastically reduce their energy expenditure during times of cold exposure, food shortage, or drought, by temporarily abandoning euthermia, i.e. the maintenance of high body temperatures. Traditionally, two different types of heterothermy, i.e. hypometabolic states associated with low body temperature (torpor), have been distinguished: daily torpor, which lasts less than 24 h and is accompanied by continued foraging, versus hibernation, with torpor bouts lasting consecutive days to several weeks in animals that usually do not forage but rely on energy stores, either food caches or body energy reserves. This classification of torpor types has been challenged, suggesting that these phenotypes may merely represent extremes in a continuum of traits. Here, we investigate whether variables of torpor in 214 species (43 birds and 171 mammals) form a continuum or a bimodal distribution. We use Gaussian-mixture cluster analysis as well as phylogenetically informed regressions to quantitatively assess the distinction between hibernation and daily torpor and to evaluate the impact of body mass and geographical distribution of species on torpor traits. Cluster analysis clearly confirmed the classical distinction between daily torpor and hibernation. Overall, heterothermic endotherms tend to be small; hibernators are significantly heavier than daily heterotherms and also are distributed at higher average latitudes (∼35°) than daily heterotherms (∼25°). Variables of torpor for an average 30 g heterotherm differed significantly between daily heterotherms and hibernators. Average maximum torpor bout duration was >30-fold longer, and mean torpor bout duration >25-fold longer in hibernators. Mean minimum body temperature differed by ∼13°C, and the mean minimum torpor metabolic rate was ∼35% of the basal metabolic rate (BMR) in daily heterotherms but only 6% of BMR in hibernators. Consequently, our analysis strongly supports the view that hibernators and daily heterotherms are functionally distinct groups that probably have been subject to disruptive selection. Arguably, the primary physiological difference between daily torpor and hibernation, which leads to a variety of derived further distinct characteristics, is the temporal control of entry into and arousal from torpor, which is governed by the circadian clock in daily heterotherms, but apparently not in hibernators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Ruf
- Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Savoyenstraße 1, A-1160 Vienna, Austria
- Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
| | - Fritz Geiser
- Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
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8
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Pap PL, Osváth G, Sándor K, Vincze O, Bărbos L, Marton A, Nudds RL, Vágási CI. Interspecific variation in the structural properties of flight feathers in birds indicates adaptation to flight requirements and habitat. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Péter L. Pap
- MTA‐DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology University of Debrecen Egyetem tér 1 Debrecen H–4032 Hungary
- Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
| | - Gergely Osváth
- Museum of Zoology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
| | - Krisztina Sándor
- Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
| | - Orsolya Vincze
- MTA‐DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology University of Debrecen Egyetem tér 1 Debrecen H–4032 Hungary
- Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
| | - Lőrinc Bărbos
- Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
- ‘Milvus Group’ Bird and Nature Protection Association Márton Áron street 9/BTîrgu Mureş RO–540058 Romania
| | - Attila Marton
- Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
- ‘Milvus Group’ Bird and Nature Protection Association Márton Áron street 9/BTîrgu Mureş RO–540058 Romania
| | - Robert L. Nudds
- Faculty of Life Sciences University of Manchester Manchester M13 9PT UK
| | - Csongor I. Vágási
- MTA‐DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology University of Debrecen Egyetem tér 1 Debrecen H–4032 Hungary
- Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş‐Bolyai University Clinicilor Street 5–7 Cluj Napoca RO–400006 Romania
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9
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Danner RM, Greenberg RS, Danner JE, Walters JR. Winter food limits timing of pre‐alternate moult in a short‐distance migratory bird. Funct Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Raymond M. Danner
- Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia 24061 USA
- Migratory Bird Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park Washington District of Columbia 20008 USA
| | - Russell S. Greenberg
- Migratory Bird Center Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park Washington District of Columbia 20008 USA
| | - Julie E. Danner
- Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia 24061 USA
- Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute National Zoological Park Washington District of Columbia 20008 USA
| | - Jeffrey R. Walters
- Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Tech Blacksburg Virginia 24061 USA
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Echeverry-Galvis MA, Hau M. Molt–breeding overlap alters molt dynamics and behavior in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata castanotis. J Exp Biol 2012; 215:1957-64. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.065474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Costly events in the life history cycle of organisms such as reproduction, migration and pelage/plumage replacement are typically separated in time to maximize their outcome. Such temporal separation is thought to be necessitated by energetical trade-offs, and mediated through physiological processes. However, certain species, such as tropical birds, are able to overlap two costly life history stages: reproduction and feather replacement. It has remained unclear how both events progress when they co-occur over extended periods of time. Here we determined the consequences and potential costs of such overlap by comparing molt and behavioral patterns in both sexes of captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis) that were solely molting or were overlapping breeding and molt. Individuals overlapping the early stages of breeding with molt showed a roughly 40% decrease in the growth rate of individual feathers compared with birds that were molting but not breeding. Further, individuals that overlapped breeding and molt tended to molt fewer feathers simultaneously and exhibited longer intervals between shedding consecutive feathers on the tail or the same wing as well as delays in shedding corresponding flight feathers on opposite sides. Overlapping individuals also altered their time budgets: they devoted more than twice the time to feeding while halving the time spent for feather care in comparison to molt-only individuals. These data provide experimental support for the previously untested hypothesis that when molt and reproduction overlap in time, feather replacement will occur at a slower and less intense rate. There were no sex differences in any of the variables assessed, except for a tendency in females to decline body condition more strongly over time during the overlap than males. Our data indicate the existence of major consequences of overlapping breeding and molt, manifested in changes in both molt dynamics and time budgets of both sexes. It is likely that under harsher conditions in natural environments such consequences will be more severe and may result in fitness consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria A. Echeverry-Galvis
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 106A Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Michaela Hau
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Am Obstberg 1, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany
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11
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Cornelius JM, Perfito N, Zann R, Breuner CW, Hahn TP. Physiological trade-offs in self-maintenance: plumage molt and stress physiology in birds. J Exp Biol 2011; 214:2768-77. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.057174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Trade-offs between self-maintenance processes can affect life-history evolution. Integument replacement and the stress response both promote self-maintenance and affect survival in vertebrates. Relationships between the two processes have been studied most extensively in birds, where hormonal stress suppression is down regulated during molt in seasonal species, suggesting a resource-based trade-off between the two processes. The only species found to differ are the rock dove and Eurasian tree sparrow, at least one of which performs a very slow molt that may reduce resource demands during feather growth, permitting investment in the stress response. To test for the presence of a molt–stress response trade-off, we measured hormonal stress responsiveness during and outside molt in two additional species with extended molts, red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) and zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We found that both species maintain hormonal stress responsiveness during molt. Further, a comparative analysis of all available species revealed a strong relationship between molt duration and degree of hormonal suppression. Though our results support trade-off hypotheses, these data can also be explained by alternative hypotheses that have not been formally addressed in the literature. We found a strong relationship between stress suppression and seasonality of breeding and evidence suggesting that the degree of suppression may be either locally adaptable or plastic and responsive to local environmental conditions. We hypothesize that environmental unpredictability favors extended molt duration, which in turn allows for maintenance of the hormonal stress response, and discuss implications of a possible trade-off for the evolution of molt schedules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie M. Cornelius
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Nicole Perfito
- Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Richard Zann
- Zoology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Creagh W. Breuner
- Organismal Biology and Ecology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Thomas P. Hahn
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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12
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Hoye BJ, Buttemer WA. Inexplicable inefficiency of avian molt? Insights from an opportunistically breeding arid-zone species, Lichenostomus penicillatus. PLoS One 2011; 6:e16230. [PMID: 21311594 PMCID: PMC3032729 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2010] [Accepted: 12/16/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The majority of bird species studied to date have molt schedules that are not concurrent with other energy demanding life history stages, an outcome assumed to arise from energetic trade-offs. Empirical studies reveal that molt is one of the most energetically demanding and perplexingly inefficient growth processes measured. Furthermore, small birds, which have the highest mass-specific basal metabolic rates (BMRm), have the highest costs of molt per gram of feathers produced. However, many small passerines, including white-plumed honeyeaters (WPHE; Lichenostomus penicillatus), breed in response to resource availability at any time of year, and do so without interrupting their annual molt. We examined the energetic cost of molt in WPHE by quantifying weekly changes in minimum resting metabolic rate (RMRmin) during a natural-molt period in 7 wild-caught birds. We also measured the energetic cost of feather replacement in a second group of WPHEs that we forced to replace an additional 25% of their plumage at the start of their natural molt period. Energy expenditure during natural molt revealed an energy conversion efficiency of just 6.9% (±0.57) close to values reported for similar-sized birds from more predictable north-temperate environments. Maximum increases in RMRmin during the molt of WPHE, at 82% (±5.59) above individual pre-molt levels, were some of the highest yet reported. Yet RMRmin maxima during molt were not coincident with the peak period of feather replacement in naturally molting or plucked birds. Given the tight relationship between molt efficiency and mass-specific metabolic rate in all species studied to date, regardless of life-history pattern (Efficiency (%) = 35.720•10−0.494BMRm; r2 = 0.944; p = <0.0001), there appears to be concomitant physiological costs entrained in the molt period that is not directly due to feather replacement. Despite these high total expenditures, the protracted molt period of WPHE significantly reduces these added costs on a daily basis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bethany J Hoye
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Conservation Biology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.
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Nord A, Nilsson JF, Sandell MI, Nilsson JÅ. Patterns and dynamics of rest-phase hypothermia in wild and captive blue tits during winter. J Comp Physiol B 2009; 179:737-45. [DOI: 10.1007/s00360-009-0357-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2009] [Revised: 03/05/2009] [Accepted: 03/19/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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14
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Vézina F, Gustowska A, Jalvingh K, Chastel O, Piersma T. Hormonal Correlates and Thermoregulatory Consequences of Molting on Metabolic Rate in a Northerly Wintering Shorebird. Physiol Biochem Zool 2009; 82:129-42. [DOI: 10.1086/596512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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15
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Doucette LI, Geiser F. Seasonal variation in thermal energetics of the Australian owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus). Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2008; 151:615-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2008.07.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2008] [Revised: 07/27/2008] [Accepted: 07/27/2008] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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