Hair cortisol concentrations correlate negatively with survival in a wild primate population.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Glucocorticoid hormones are known to play a key role in mediating a cascade of physiological responses to social and ecological stressors and can therefore influence animals' behaviour and ultimately fitness. Yet, how glucocorticoid levels are associated with reproductive success or survival in a natural setting has received little empirical attention so far. Here, we examined links between survival and levels of glucocorticoid in a small, short-lived primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), using for the first time an indicator of long-term stress load (hair cortisol concentration). Using a capture-mark-recapture modelling approach, we assessed the effect of stress on survival in a broad context (semi-annual rates), but also under a specific period of high en

SUBMITTER: Rakotoniaina JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5579956 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature