Pre- and postnatal effects of experimentally manipulated maternal corticosterone on growth, stress reactivity and survival of nestling house wrens.

ABSTRACT: Corticosterone plays a central role in maintaining homeostasis, promoting energy acquisition, and regulating the stress response in birds. Exposure to elevated levels of corticosterone during development can profoundly alter offspring behaviour and physiology, but the effects of elevated maternal corticosterone on offspring development remain poorly understood.We tested two competing hypotheses concerning the effect of maternally derived corticosterone on growth and development of free-living house wrens: (i) elevated maternal corticosterone causes damaging effects on nestling phenotype and fitness (collateral damage hypothesis) and (ii) increased maternal corticosterone enhances offspring fitness by preparing nestlings for the environment experienced by their mother (environmental/materna

SUBMITTER: Weber BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6191837 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature