Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 270, Issue 1518, Pages 963-969Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2002.2326
Keywords
forest fragmentation; physiological stress; offspring quality; corticosterone; treecreeper
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We investigated how physiological stress in an area-sensitive old-growth forest passerine, the Eurasian treecreeper (Certhia familiaris), is associated with forest fragmentation and forest structure. We found evidence that the concentrations of plasma corticosterone in chicks were higher under poor food supply in dense, young forests than in sparse, old forests. In addition, nestlings in large forest patches had lower corticosterone levels and a better body condition than in small forest patches. In general, corticosterone levels were negatively related to body condition and survival. We also found a decrease in corticosterone levels within the breeding season, which may have been a result of an increase in food supply from the first to the second broods. Our results suggest that forest fragmentation may decrease the fitness of free-living individual treecreepers.
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