期刊
GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY
卷 175, 期 3, 页码 443-448出版社
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2011.11.042
关键词
Corticosterone; Life-history; Physiological mechanism; Reptile; Stress; Trade-off
资金
- National Science Foundation [DEB-0323379, IOS-0922528, DEB-0710158]
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
- Direct For Biological Sciences [0922528] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Glucocorticoids are main candidates for mediating life-history trade-offs by regulating the balance between current reproduction and survival. It has been proposed that slow-living organisms should show higher stress-induced glucocorticoid levels that favor self-maintenance rather than current reproduction when compared to fast-living organisms. We tested this hypothesis in replicate populations of two ecotypes of the garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) that exhibit slow and fast pace of life strategies. We subjected free-ranging snakes to a capture-restraint protocol and compared the stress-induced corticosterone levels between slow- and fast-living snakes. We also used a five-year dataset to assess whether baseline corticosterone levels followed the same pattern as stress-induced levels in relation to pace of life. In accordance with the hypothesis, slow-living snakes showed higher stress-induced corticosterone levels than fast-living snakes. Baseline corticosterone levels showed a similar pattern with ecotype, although differences depended on the year of study. Overall, however, levels of glucocorticoids are higher in slow-living than fast-living snakes, which should favor self-maintenance and survival at the expense of current reproduction. The results of the present study are the first to relate glucocorticoid levels and pace of life in a reptilian system and contribute to our understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in life-history evolution. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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