Meeting Abstract

78-4  Sunday, Jan. 6 08:45 – 09:00  Long-term Effects of Early-life Stress on the HPA Axis in a Short- and Long-lived Bird GRACE, JK*; ANDERSON, DJ; ANGELIER, F; Texas A&M University; Wake Forest University; Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chize, CNRS; Texas A&M University, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries jkgrace@tamu.edu https://sites.google.com/site/jacquelynkayegrace/

Acute, short-term effects of early-life stressor experience and associated glucocorticoid upregulation on physiology and survival are widely documented across vertebrates. However, long-term effects of early-life stress are less well understood, especially for wild species through adulthood. We evaluate effects of early-life stress on baseline and stress-induced corticosterone in two wild birds: free-living Nazca boobies (Sula granti) and captive House sparrows (Passer domesticus). Nazca booby adults that experienced maltreatment as nestlings, a wholly natural stressor, exhibited depressed baseline corticosterone in females, and elevated stress-induced corticosterone in males. House sparrow adults that experienced an experimental increase in circulating corticosterone as nestlings also displayed depressed baseline corticosterone , and in contrast to Nazca boobies, depressed stress-induced corticosterone. These results highlight the sex- and species-specific nature of long-term effects of early-life stressor experience. We discuss these results within the context of life history and fitness consequences of altered HPA axis activity.