Testosterone, territorial response, and song in seasonally breeding tropical and temperate stonechats

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Research Article

Heiner Flinks¹  Barbara Helm²  Kim G. Mortega³  Beate Apfelbeck⁴  Juan Carlos Illera⁵ 

[1] Am Kuhm 19, D-46325, Borken, Germany;Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, Scotland, UK;Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, Scotland, UK;Department of Migration and Immunoecology, Max-Planck-Institut für Ornithologie, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany;Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, Scotland, UK;Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department of Ecology and Ecosystemmanagement, Technische Universität München, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, D-85354, Freising, Germany;Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO-CSIC-PA), Oviedo University, Campus of Mieres, 33600, Mieres, Spain;

关键词: Steroid hormones;    Testosterone;    Territorial behavior;    Migratory behavior;    Song;    Tropical;    Temperate;    Songbirds;    Breeding season length;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12862-017-0944-9

 received in 2016-10-11, accepted in 2017-03-23,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTestosterone facilitates physiological, morphological, and behavioral changes required for breeding in male vertebrates. However, testosterone concentrations and the link between its seasonal changes and those in reproductive behaviors vary greatly among species. To better understand the impact of tropical and temperate environments and life history factors on this variation, we have compared testosterone, territorial behavior and song performance across sequential stages of the breeding season in males of 16 closely related taxa of East African tropical and West European temperate stonechats (Saxicola spp), which all breed during a short breeding season, but differ in migratory behavior, seasonal territory-acquisition and pace of life.ResultsWe found that generally, the profiles of testosterone and territorial behavior were similar across latitudes. African stonechats with a slow pace of life had equally high peak testosterone concentrations and responded as aggressively to an intruder as European stonechats with a fast pace of life. However, song performance at the beginning of the breeding season was lower in African than in European stonechats. The differences in song performance were not associated with variation in testosterone levels between tropical and temperate stonechats.ConclusionsThe results suggest a very similar role for testosterone as a mediator of high intensity territorial aggression during the fertile period of females in tropical and temperate stonechats, which all are highly seasonal, locally synchronous breeders. A potential explanation may be high risk of extra-pair copulations which has been associated with synchronous breeding. Interestingly, an association was not consistent for song performance. Our data suggest that song performance can be disassociated from peak testosterone levels depending on its role in breeding behavior. Despite similar testosterone levels, European males, which early in the breeding season acquire territories and mates, showed greater song performance than African stonechats, which maintain year-round territories and pair-bonds. Taken together, our study comparing related taxa of old world songbirds suggests that short breeding seasons may be a major selective force for high peak testosterone levels during breeding regardless of latitude and pace of life, but that particular behaviors, in our case song, can be uncoupled from peak testosterone levels.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017