Meeting Abstract
P2.22 Sunday, Jan. 5 15:30 Stress and Reproduction in Harlequin Ducks HANSEN, WK*; BATE, LJ; CHASTEL, O; BREUNER, CW; The University of Montana; Glacier National Park; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; The University of Montana warrenhansen@gmail.com
Conservation physiology uses physiological metrics to understand the health and reproductive success of species. Conservation studies tend to measure several aspects of reproductive success and survival to understand population viability. With conservation physiology, it is possible that measures of glucocorticoid physiology may offer a predictive view of individual and population success. However, the field is still in its infancy. We do not yet know how well glucocorticoid levels reflect reproductive success across species, or what metric of glucocorticoids is best to use. Toward this end, we measured plasma, fecal and feather corticosterone (CORT) levels in a breeding population of harlequin ducks Histrionicus histrionicus. These measures will enable us to estimate CORT secretion over several different time frames. Plasma measures will reflect immediate CORT secretion, fecal levels will reflect the previous 6-8 hours, and feather levels will allow us to estimate general glucocorticoid levels from just prior to the current breeding effort (back feathers grown during the pre-nuptial molt), and from the end of the previous breeding season (tail feathers grown during the last basic molt). These 3 different stress profiles (plasma, fecal and feather) may lend information to the quality of breeding and non-breeding habitat and to the quality of each breeding territory. We may also be able to make predictions about past and future breeding success based on tail and back feather CORT concentrations. In ecology and wildlife management, understanding sources of annual variation in reproductive success is important to identify to develop best management practices. This study will contribute to our understanding of the utility of glucocorticoid physiology as a tool in conservation.
