Core Facility Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle for Behaviour and Cognition, University of Vienna, Fischerau 11, A-4645, Gruenau im Almtal, Austria.
Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090, Vienna, Austria.
Sci Rep. 2018 Nov 7;8(1):16498. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34337-3.
In group-living animals, social context is known to modulate physiology, behaviour and reproductive output as well as foraging and nutritional strategies. Here we investigate the digestive efficiency of 38 individuals belonging to different social categories of a semi-feral and individually marked flock of greylag geese (Anser anser). During 9 consecutive days in winter 2017, when the ground was fully covered with snow (i.e. no grass or other natural forage available) and the accessible food was standardized, 184 individual droppings were collected and analysed to estimate the apparent digestibility of organic matter (ADOM). Lignin was used as an indigestible internal marker in the food and droppings. The digestive efficiency was higher in pairs with offspring as compared to pairs without offspring or unpaired birds. Furthermore, individuals with high ADOM were more likely to breed successfully in the following season than those with low ADOM. Our findings demonstrate that social status modulates digestive efficiency, probably via a chain of physiological mechanisms including a dampened stress response in individuals enjoying stable social relationships with and social support by their family members (i.e. their own pair-partner and offspring). Our findings underline the importance of the social network in modulating physiology, such as digestive efficiency, and ultimately reproductive success.
在群居动物中，社会环境被认为可以调节生理、行为和生殖产出，以及觅食和营养策略。在这里，我们研究了属于半野生和个体标记的灰雁群（Anser anser）不同社会类别的 38 个个体的消化效率。在 2017 年冬季的 9 天中，当地面完全被积雪覆盖（即没有草或其他天然饲料）且可获得的食物标准化时，我们收集并分析了 184 个个体的粪便，以估计有机物的表观消化率（ADOM）。木质素被用作食物和粪便中不可消化的内部标记物。与没有后代或未配对的鸟类相比，有后代的配对的消化效率更高。此外，在接下来的季节中，ADOM 较高的个体比 ADOM 较低的个体更有可能成功繁殖。我们的研究结果表明，社会地位调节消化效率，可能通过一系列生理机制，包括享受稳定社会关系和家庭成员（即自己的配偶和后代）的社会支持的个体的应激反应减弱。我们的研究结果强调了社会网络在调节生理机能（如消化效率），并最终影响繁殖成功方面的重要性。
