Diel pattern of corticosterone metabolites in Arctic barnacle goslings (Branta leucopsis) under continuous natural light.

ABSTRACT: Here we describe the excretion pattern of corticosterone metabolites collected from droppings in barnacle goslings (Branta leucopsis) raised under 24 hours of continuous natural light in the Arctic. In lower latitudes, circulating corticosterone peaks around waking and shows a nadir between midnight and 4:00, whereas the peak and nadir are time-delayed slightly when measuring corticosterone metabolites from droppings. Photoperiod, along with other environmental factors, helps to entrain an animal's endogenous rhythm to that of the natural world. North of the Arctic Circle, photoperiod may not be a reliable cue as light is continuously absent during the winter and continuously present during the summer. Here, for the first time, we used droppings to describe a 24-hour excretion pattern of c

SUBMITTER: Scheiber IBR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5546627 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature