Journal
LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY
Volume 29, Issue 9, Pages 1521-1530Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10980-014-0071-6
Keywords
Cyanistes; Passerine; Wild population; Blood glucose; Spatial and temporal variation; Environmental stress
Funding
- Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education [NN304 045136]
- University of Lodz [506/829]
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Integration of landscape ecology and conservation physiology has been recommended as a potentially useful way to investigate consequences of human-induced changes in habitats for animal populations. A central goal of this paper was to examine if a simple physiological parameter displays any consistent patterns of spatio-temporal variation. Blood glucose concentration in birds reflects their high metabolic demands and may be influenced by a number of environmental factors. Therefore we present results concerning variation in glucose concentration in the blood of c. 14-day-old nestling blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) in central Poland in an 8-year period, 2005-2012, in two landscapes: an urban parkland and a deciduous forest. The most important findings of the study were: (1) mean levels of blood glucose varied markedly among years, most probably due to variable weather conditions, (2) glucose concentrations were significantly higher in the parkland study site than in the forest site, (3) heavier nestlings had lower glucose levels, and (4) high glucose levels were negatively correlated with fledging and breeding success. Thus we have confirmed that a consistent spatio-temporal pattern really exists.
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