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Diurnal variation in corticosterone release among wild tropical forest birds

Overview of attention for article published in Frontiers in Zoology, May 2016
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Title
Diurnal variation in corticosterone release among wild tropical forest birds
Published in
Frontiers in Zoology, May 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12983-016-0151-3
Pubmed ID
Authors

Philipp Schwabl, Elisa Bonaccorso, Wolfgang Goymann

Abstract

Glucocorticoids are adrenal steroid hormones essential to homeostatic maintenance. Their daily variation at low concentrations regulates physiology and behavior to sustain proper immunological and metabolic function. Glucocorticoids rise well above these baseline levels during stress to elicit emergency-state responses that increase short-term survival. Despite this essence in managing life processes under both regular and adverse conditions, relationships of glucocorticoid release to environmental and intrinsic factors that vary at daily and seasonal scales are rarely studied in the wild. This study on 41 passerine species of the Ecuadorian Chocó applied a standardized capture-and-restraint protocol to examine diurnal variation in baseline and stress-related release of corticosterone, the primary avian glucocorticoid. Tests for relationships to relative body mass, hemoglobin concentration, molt status and date complemented this evaluation of the time of day effect on corticosterone secretion in free-living tropical rainforest birds. Analyses were also partitioned by sex as well as performed separately on two common species, the wedge-billed woodcreeper and olive-striped flycatcher. Interspecific analyses indicated maximum baseline corticosterone levels at the onset of the active phase and reductions thereafter. Stress-related levels did not correspond to time of day but accompanied baseline reductions during molt and elevations in birds sampled later during the September - November study period. Baseline corticosterone related negatively to hemoglobin in the wedge-billed woodcreeper and stress-related levels increased with body mass in the olive-striped flycatcher. There were no substantial sex-related differences. The results of this study suggest a diurnal rhythmicity in baseline corticosterone release so robust as to emerge in pooled analyses across a highly variable dataset. While this detection in nature is singular, correspondent patterns have been demonstrated outside of the tropics in captive model species. Congruity in daily rhythms and links to physiological and life-history state across disparate taxa and environments may promote the yet unresolved utility of corticosterone release as a global metric for population health. However, certain results of this study also deviate from laboratory and field research at higher latitudes, cautioning generalization. Environmental distinctions such as high productivity and tempered seasonality may precipitate unique life-history strategies and underlying hormonal mechanisms in tropical rainforest birds.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 56 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 1 2%
Unknown 55 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 12 21%
Researcher 11 20%
Student > Master 10 18%
Student > Bachelor 5 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 9%
Other 6 11%
Unknown 7 13%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 25 45%
Environmental Science 5 9%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 3 5%
Neuroscience 3 5%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 4%
Other 7 13%
Unknown 11 20%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 May 2016.
All research outputs
#13,233,615
of 22,867,327 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Zoology
#435
of 651 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#141,964
of 298,972 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Zoology
#7
of 14 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,867,327 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 651 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 21.0. This one is in the 31st percentile – i.e., 31% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 298,972 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 51% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 14 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.