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Bartoš L, Esattore B, Kotrba R, Pluháček J, Ceacero F, Komárková M, Dušek A, Bartošová J. The effects of challenge or social buffering on cortisol, testosterone, and antler growth in captive red deer (Cervus elaphus) males. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21856. [PMID: 38071205 PMCID: PMC10710442 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48476-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
We equipped 17 captive red deer males (Cervus elaphus) with GPS collars to measure inter-individual distances throughout the 5-months of the antler growth period. We expected some individuals to associate regularly with others while others would not. We predicted that males aggregating with others within a socially stable environment (Associates) would benefit from a form of "social buffering" and would likely have lowered cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) concentrations. Males only irregularly joining social groupings would experience elevated levels of aggression; according to the "Challenge hypothesis", their T and C concentrations should increase. Interacting with a higher proportion of Associates did indeed reduce C concentrations. Conversely, avoiding Associates and challenging other males stimulated the T secretion. Admittedly, males avoiding regular proximity to others tended to develop the largest antlers. They probably benefited from frequent successful agonistic threats to conspecifics, resulting in elevated T concentrations. Regular association with tolerant, conspecifics and "social buffering" did not seem sufficient for producing larger antlers despite reducing C concentrations. Alternative social strategies were adopted within the same group of individuals and showed how the trade-off between these strategies could have an essential impact on C and T concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luděk Bartoš
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha Uhříneves, 10400, Czech Republic.
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 16521, Praha 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Bruno Esattore
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha Uhříneves, 10400, Czech Republic
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 16521, Praha 6, Czech Republic
| | - Radim Kotrba
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha Uhříneves, 10400, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Pluháček
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha Uhříneves, 10400, Czech Republic
| | - Francisco Ceacero
- Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16521, Praha 6, Czech Republic
| | - Martina Komárková
- Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16521, Praha 6, Czech Republic
| | - Adam Dušek
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha Uhříneves, 10400, Czech Republic
| | - Jitka Bartošová
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přátelství 815, Praha Uhříneves, 10400, Czech Republic
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Simons MJP, Sebire M, Verhulst S, Groothuis TGG. Androgen Elevation Accelerates Reproductive Senescence in Three-Spined Stickleback. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 9:752352. [PMID: 34977010 PMCID: PMC8718761 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.752352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Costs of reproduction shape the life-history evolution of investment in current and future reproduction and thereby aging. Androgens have been proposed to regulate the physiology governing these investments. Furthermore, androgens are hypothesized to play a central role in carotenoid-dependent sexual signaling, regulating how much carotenoids are diverted to ornamentation and away from somatic maintenance, increasing oxidative stress, and accelerating aging. We investigated these relationships in male three-spined stickleback in which we elevated 11-ketotestosterone and supplied vitamin E, an antioxidant, in a 2 × 2 design. Androgen elevation shortened the time stickleback maintained reproductive activities. We suspect that this effect is caused by 11-ketotestosterone stimulating investment in current reproduction, but we detected no evidence for this in our measurements of reproductive effort: nest building, body composition, and breeding coloration. Carotenoid-dependent coloration was even slightly decreased by 11-ketotestosterone elevation and was left unaffected by vitamin E. Red coloration correlated with life expectancy and reproductive capacity in a quadratic manner, suggesting overinvestment of the individuals exhibiting the reddest bellies. In contrast, blue iris color showed a negative relationship with survival, suggesting physiological costs of producing this aspect of nuptial coloration. In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that androgens regulate investment in current versus future reproduction, yet the precise mechanisms remain elusive. The quadratic relationships between sexual signal expression and aspects of quality have wider consequences for how we view sexual selection on ornamentation and its relationship with aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirre J P Simons
- School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Marion Sebire
- The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Weymouth, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Verhulst
- Behavioural Biology, Centre for Behaviour and Neuroscience, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Ton G G Groothuis
- Behavioural Biology, Centre for Behaviour and Neuroscience, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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Clapp N, Reichert MS. Arginine vasotocin affects motivation to call, but not calling plasticity, in Cope's gray treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis. J Comp Physiol B 2021; 192:115-125. [PMID: 34401940 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-021-01399-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The ability to respond to competition is critical for social behaviors involved in mating, territoriality and foraging. Physiological mechanisms of competitive social behaviors may determine not only baseline behavior, but possibly also the plasticity of the response to competition. We examined the effects of the neuropeptide arginine vasotocin (AVT), which is implicated in social behavior in non-mammalian vertebrates, on both spontaneous acoustic advertisement calling behavior and the plastic response to a simulated competitive challenge in Cope's gray treefrogs, Hyla chrysoscelis. We injected males either with AVT or a saline control and then analyzed recordings of spontaneous calling prior to playback, playback of average advertisement calls, playback of highly competitive advertisement calls, and spontaneous calling after playback. We found a tendency for AVT-treated males to be more likely to resume calling, and AVT males had higher call rates than control males, although they did not differ in pulse number or call effort. There were no differences between the AVT and control treatments in the plasticity of calling behavior in response to simulated competitors. Our results generally align with other studies on how AVT affects anuran vocalizations, and suggest that its primary effect is on motivation to call, with less of an effect on plasticity in response to competition. Nevertheless, these effects on call motivation are significant, because mating success is often determined more by participation in the chorus than by the values of specific call characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Clapp
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, 501 Life Sciences West, Stillwater, 74078, USA.,Health Sciences Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, USA
| | - Michael S Reichert
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, 501 Life Sciences West, Stillwater, 74078, USA.
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