The Ecology of Stress: linking life-history traits with physiological control mechanisms in free-living guanacos.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Providing the context for the evolution of life-history traits, habitat features constrain successful ecological and physiological strategies. In vertebrates, a key response to life's challenges is the activation of the Stress (HPA) and Gonadal (HPG) axes. Much of the interest in stress ecology is motivated by the desire to understand the physiological mechanisms in which the environment affects fitness. As reported in the literature, several intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect variability in hormone levels. In both social and non-social animals, the frequency and type of interaction with conspecifics, as well as the status in social species, can affect HPA axis activity, resulting in changes in the reproductive success of animals. We predicted that a social environme

SUBMITTER: Ovejero Aguilar RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5101617 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature