ANGELIER F., CLEMENT-CHASTEL C., WECKLER J., GABRIELSEN G.W., CHASTEL O. (2009). How does corticosterone affect parental behaviour and reproductive success? A study of prolactin in Black-legged kittiwakes. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, 23, 784–793.
Abstract: An emergency life-history stage is expressed in breeding vertebrates when the immediate survival is threatened by poor energetic conditions (i.e. allostatic overload). This emergency life-history stage shift energy investment away from reproduction and redirects it toward immediate survival. In birds, this emergency life-history stage is promoted by a release of the stress hormone corticosterone. However, how corticosterone functionally reduces the expression of parental cares remains to be clarified. One hypothesis is that the release of corticosterone affects prolactin levels, a pituitary hormone widely involved in regulating parental behaviours. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally increasing corticosterone levels of chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) over a 3-days period and by monitoring prolactin levels over an 8-days period. We also investigated whether this hormonal manipulation affected nest attendance and breeding success. Corticosterone treatment resulted in a significant increase in plasma corticosterone levels during the first 2 days, which returned to pre- treatment values at day 3 . This short term corticosterone increase was accompanied by a 30% decrease in prolactin levels. Prolactin levels where reduced in a progressive and persistent manner and did not return to their initial levels when corticosterone levels returned to baseline. Moreover, although corticosterone levels had returned to pre-treatment values, low prolactin levels were associated with a reduced nest attendance. Finally, this hormonal treatment significantly reduced breeding success
Programme: 330
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Milot E., Weimerskirch H., Duchesne P. & Bernatchez L. (2007). Surviving with low genetic diversity : the case of albatrosses. Proc. Biol. Sci., 274, 779–787.
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. (2008). Metabolic adjustments in breeding female kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ) include changes in kidney metabolic intensity. Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 178(6), 779–784.
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Labat J.P., Mayzaud P. & Sabini S. (2005). Population dynamics of Themisto gaudichaudii in Kerguelen Islands waters, Southern Indian Ocean. Polar Biol., 28(10), 776–783.
Abstract: Fieldwork was carried out at Kerguelen Islands. Two groups of stations in a coastal area, the Morbihan gulf, were surveyed. At both stations, macroplankton biomass ranged from 2.3 mg dry weight m-3 to 89 mg dry weight m-3and consisted mostly of Themisto gaudichaudii with values ranging from 1.9 mg dry weight m-3 to 50.6 mg dry weight m-3. Biomass was high for sub-Antarctic waters with marked seasonal and inter-zone differences. Biomass minima were observed at the end of the winter, from September to November, while maxima were recorded in summer and in early fall at the beginning of the year between January and April. T. gaudichaudii showed a recruitment of new size classes, mainly from November to January, followed by a rapid growth phase in summer. which slowed down during the southern winter period. Individuals breed after 1 year. Large individuals, older than 1 year, were not a significant presence in the gulf of Morbihan. The main pattern of the population dynamics were characterised by an univoltine life cycle with a very high biomass marked by a strong seasonal signal linked with the hydrological and trophic parameters of the Gulf.
Keywords: Invertebrata ; Arthropoda ; Crustacea ; Aquatic environment ; Climatic zone ; Antarctic Islands ; Kerguelen Islands ; Amphipoda ; Marine environment ; Polar region ; Indian Ocean ; Southern Ocean ; Kerguelen Islands ; Population dynamics
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. (2006). J. Appl. Phycol., 18, 769–781.
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Blanchard P., Hanuise N., Dano S. & Weimerskirch H. (2007). Offspring sex ratio in relation to parental structural size and body condition in the long-lived wandering albatross. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. (Print), 61, 767–773.
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Hobson, K.A. & Cherel Y. (2006). Isotopic reconstruction of marine food webs using cepahalopod beaks : new insight from captively raised Sepia officinalis. Can. J. Zool., 84, 766–770.
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Duchamp C., Rouanet J.L. & Barre H. (2002). Ontogeny of thermoregulatory mechanisms in king penguin chicks (Aptenodytes patagonicus). Comp. Biochem. Physiol., Part A Mol. Integr. Physiol., 131(4), 765–773.
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Pizzo, L., Dall'Oglio, G., Martinis, L., Sabbatini, L. (2006). A multipurpose 3He refrigerator. Cryogenics, 46, 762–764.
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Genthon, C.; Kaspari, S.; Mayewski, P. (2005). Climate dynamics, 24(7), 759–770.
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