Testosterone and autumn territorial behavior in male red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus
Testosterone and autumn territorial behavior in male red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.11.021
复制
发表时间：
2005-05-01
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Leckie, F
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mougeot, F;Dawson, A;Leckie, F
在许多鸟类中，雄性在繁殖季节以外表现出领土攻击性，此时睾酮浓度较低，可能不会控制领土行为。每年这个时候攻击性的荷尔蒙调节只在雀形目鸟类身上被研究过。在这里，我们研究了睾丸激素在非雀形目鸟类--红色松鸡--黑斑羚攻击性调节中的作用。雄性红松鸡在早春开始繁殖时具有攻击性，在秋天它们建立领地时具有攻击性，在冬天的大部分时间里偶尔会有攻击性。我们首先描述了与攻击性有关的血浆睾丸素浓度和男性性饰的大小，即他们的红色梳子的季节变化。睾丸激素浓度与梳子大小相关。两者都在秋季增加，10月份达到峰值，然后在春季再次增加，在4月初达到更大的峰值。其次，我们通过实验研究了睾酮和抗雄激素(氟他胺)与芳香酶抑制剂(ATD)联合使用对秋季领地行为的影响。男性接受空植入物，作为对照(C-MERE)，睾酮植入物(T-MERE)，或氟他胺和ATD植入物(FA-MERE)。植入一个月后，T-和FA-雄性的睾酮浓度都高于C-雄性。在T雄鸟中，梳子大小、攻击性呼叫率和对领土叫声回放的反应都显著增加。然而，雄性FA的睾丸激素的增加并没有增加梳子的大小或攻击性行为。在第二年春天，在使用了植入物后，FA雄性的睾酮水平显著低于C雄性，而且梳子大小的季节性增长也有所减少。结果表明，睾酮在调节秋季红松鸡攻击行为中起着重要作用。然而，观察到氟他胺和ATD治疗并没有减少领地行为，这表明雌二醇可能也参与了对非繁殖性攻击的调节。(C)2005 Elsevier Inc.保留所有权利。
In many bird species, males exhibit territorial aggression outside the breeding season, when testosterone concentrations are low and may not regulate territorial behaviors. The hormonal regulation of aggression at this time of year has only been studied in passerine birds. Here, we investigated the role of testosterone in the regulation of aggression in a non-passerine bird, the red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. Male red grouse are aggressive in early spring when breeding starts, in autumn when they establish territories, and sporadically through much of the winter. We first describe seasonal variations in plasma testosterone concentrations and in the size of males' sexual ornaments, their red combs, which relates to aggressiveness. Testosterone concentrations and comb size were correlated. Both increased in autumn to a peak in October, and then increased again in spring, to a greater peak in early April. Secondly, we experimentally investigated the effects of testosterone, and of an anti-androgen (flutamide) used in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (ATD), on autumn territorial behavior. Males were treated with either empty implants, as controls (C-males), testosterone implants (T-males), or with flutamide and ATD implants (FA-males). One month after implanting, both T- and FA-males had higher concentrations of testosterone than C-males. Comb size, aggressive call rate, and response to playbacks of territorial call all significantly increased in T-males. However, the increase in testosterone in FA-males did not increase comb size or aggressive behavior. In the following spring, after the content of implants was used, FA-males had significantly lower testosterone than C-males, and had a reduced seasonal increase in comb size. The results suggest that testosterone plays a significant role in regulating red grouse aggressive behavior in autumn. However, the observation that flutamide and ATD treatment did not reduce territorial behavior, suggests that estradiol may also be involved in the regulation of non-breeding aggression. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.