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427 results for “Ducks”

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Consistent changes in muscle metabolism underlie dive performance across multiple lineages of diving ducks

Diving animals must sustain high activity with limited O2 stores to successfully capture prey. Studies suggest that increasing body O2 stores supports breath-hold diving, but less is known about metabolic specializations that underlie underwater locomotion. We measured maximal activities of 10 key enzymes in locomotory muscles (gastrocnemius, pectoralis) to identify biochemical changes associated with diving in pathways of oxidative and substrate-level phosphorylation and compared them across three groups of ducks — the strong diving sea ducks (Mergini, 8 spp.), the mid-tier diving pochards (Aythyini, 3 spp.), and the non-diving dabblers (Anatini, 5 spp.). Relative to dabblers, both diving groups had increased activities of succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidase, and sea ducks further showed increases in citrate synthase (CS) and hydroxyacyl-coA dehydrogenase (HOAD). Both diving groups had relative decreases in capacity for anaerobic metabolism (lower ratio of lactate dehydrogenase to CS), with sea ducks also showing a greater capacity for oxidative phosphorylation and lipid oxidation (lower ratio of pyruvate kinase to CS, higher ratio of HOAD to hexokinase). These data suggest that the locomotory muscles of diving ducks are specialized for sustaining high rates of aerobic metabolism, emphasizing the importance of body O2 stores for dive performance in these species.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: breeding under pressure: corticosterone is associated with reproductive investment under fluctuating predation risk in a long-lived sea duck

Phenotypic plasticity may enable individuals to cope with predictable and unpredictable environments during their life-cycle. In that context, studying glucocorticoids – corticosterone (CORT) in birds – is relevant because of their primary role in allostasis. Higher baseline CORT levels are classically associated with environmental constraints and lower fitness (the CORT-fitness hypothesis). However, in some environments, higher baseline CORT levels can promote reproduction, therefore being associated with higher fitness (the CORT-adaptation hypothesis). These two hypotheses have been tested in multiple systems, but rarely in a context of fluctuating predation threat. We used a long-term individual-based monitoring of baseline CORT levels in female common eiders Somateria mollissima (nCORT = 1537; nindividual = 790; 2009-2022) to disentangle the context-dependent links between environmental conditions, CORT and fitness. Importantly, the study population has been facing a drastic increase in predation pressure over the past decades, linked to the recovery of the white-tailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla. Additionally, eiders breed on open or forested islands, further affecting adult and nest predation risk. This system allowed us to disentangle the relative contributions of within- and among-individual variation in baseline CORT levels under predation. Supporting the CORT-adaptation hypothesis, baseline CORT levels were positively associated with reproductive investment (clutch size), age and hatching success. By partitioning within- and among-individual effects, we showed that at the individual level, CORT flexibly increased with clutch size and age. Females displaying higher CORT levels were more successful, suggesting a link between CORT and individual quality. At both the population and individual levels, baseline CORT levels decreased over the study period. This decrease was correlated with an increase in predation risk. Females had reduced baseline CORT when nesting under high eagle abundance or adult predation risk (within-individual effect). Interestingly, apparent plasticity towards adult predation risk was only observed on open islands, likely reflecting habitat-dependent strategies. Consistent with the CORT-adaptation hypothesis, we show that changes in predation regime not only correlate with changes in reproductive investment, but also with rapid plastic adjustment of glucocorticoid levels and therefore individual strategies to cope with predation risk. Given the correlative nature of our study, we encourage further experimental studies testing for a causal relationship between predation and corticosterone levels.

opencc-zeroSep 2023View details →

dryad36/100