Environmental and hormonal correlates of immune activity in a cooperatively breeding tropical bird

General and Comparative Endocrinology
Dustin R RubensteinLynn B Martin

Abstract

Because climatic patterns in temperate regions are generally predictable, species can allocate resources adaptively among competing physiological processes before environmental conditions change. In the semi-arid tropics where environments are seasonal, but highly unpredictable, allocation decisions may be more sensitive to short-term fluctuations in conditions. We asked (i) whether investments in immune function were affected by inter-annual variation in rainfall and (ii) whether corticosterone and prolactin, two hormones that modulate immune activity in other vertebrates, predict environmentally induced alterations in immune activity in cooperatively breeding superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus). Superb starlings inhabit African savannas characterized by high among-year variation in rainfall, which influences their breeding life histories and hormone levels. We quantified bactericidal capacity of plasma, or bacterial killing, and prolactin and corticosterone concentrations in blood samples collected over a four year period during the dry season prior to breeding, as this is the period when reproductive roles are determined in this species and when rainfall is most variable. We found that bacterial killing was weakest in t...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 22, 2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Dustin R Rubenstein
Feb 12, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Daniel R ArdiaEthan D Clotfelter
May 28, 2013·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Dawn M O'Neal
Mar 20, 2014·Physiological and Biochemical Zoology : PBZ·Melanie FrattoAndrew K Davis
Mar 26, 2009·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Lynn B Martin
Mar 16, 2011·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Gregory E DemasSusannah S French
Mar 3, 2015·American Journal of Primatology·Sean P PrallMichael P Muehlenbein
Aug 9, 2016·Ecology Letters·Natalie R Hofmeister, Dustin R Rubenstein
Sep 8, 2018·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Sarah Guindre-Parker, Dustin R Rubenstein
Jun 3, 2018·Oecologia·Sarah Guindre-Parker, Dustin R Rubenstein
May 23, 2020·Current Zoology·Flavia Termignoni-GarciaScott V Edwards
Jan 16, 2021·Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part A, Ecological and Integrative Physiology·Stefanny C M Titon, Vania R Assis
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Jan 18, 2014·The Journal of Experimental Biology·M A VersteeghB I Tieleman
Apr 17, 2021·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Gabrielle R NamesJohn C Wingfield

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