Apfelbeck Beate, Cousseau Laurence, Kung'u Gladys Nyakeru, Canoine Virginie, Heiskanen Janne, Korir David K, Lala Fredrick, Pellikka Petri, Githiru Mwangi, Lens Luc
Evolutionary Zoology Group, Department of Environment and Biodiversity, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr. 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
Zoology Department, National Museums of Kenya, Museum Hill Road, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
iScience. 2024 Jan 9;27(1):108717. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108717. eCollection 2024 Jan 19.
Animals respond to habitat alteration with changes in their behavior and physiology. These changes determine individual performance and thus precede changes in population size. They are therefore hypothesized to provide important insights into how animals cope with environmental change. Here, we investigated physiological and behavioral responses of a cooperatively breeding bird, the placid greenbul (), in a severely fragmented tropical biodiversity hotspot and combined these data with remotely sensed (LiDAR) environmental data. We found that individuals had increased glucocorticoid hormone levels when breeding in territories with low native canopy cover or located within small fragments. However, when breeding with the help of subordinates, breeders in low quality territories had similar glucocorticoid levels as those in higher quality territories. Our study shows that sociality may impact how well animals cope with environmental change and contributes to our understanding of the role of glucocorticoid physiology and behavior in response to anthropogenic change.
动物会通过行为和生理变化来应对栖息地的改变。这些变化决定个体表现，进而先于种群数量的变化。因此，人们推测这些变化能为了解动物如何应对环境变化提供重要见解。在此，我们研究了一种合作繁殖鸟类——平和绿鹃（学名待补充）在一个严重碎片化的热带生物多样性热点地区的生理和行为反应，并将这些数据与遥感（激光雷达）环境数据相结合。我们发现，当在原生树冠覆盖率低的领地或小碎片区域内繁殖时，个体的糖皮质激素水平会升高。然而，当在下属的帮助下繁殖时，低质量领地的繁殖者的糖皮质激素水平与高质量领地的繁殖者相似。我们的研究表明，社会性可能会影响动物应对环境变化的能力，并有助于我们理解糖皮质激素生理和行为在应对人为变化中的作用。
