Hormones, Immunocompetence, and Coloniality

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Animal Behavior ProgramNon-technical AbstractTitle: Hormones, immunocompetence, and colonialityPI: Brown, Charles R.Proposal #: 9974733Dr. Brown will study how the social environment affects levels of an animal's steroid hormones, and how these hormones may affect its immune response, in a colonial bird, the cliff swallow. The objectives are to determine (1) if there is a relationship between group size and levels of the hormones testosterone and corticosterone; (2) how social interaction (stress) is related to hormone levels; (3) if there is a relationship between hormone levels and immune function; and (4) how parasites affect hormone levels and immune function. Blood samples will be taken for hormone analysis and immune response tests done in the field on free-living individuals. Behavioral interactions such as fighting will be observed. Simple immunological tests will be performed to measure the birds' immune responses. Hormone levels and immune responses of birds occupying nests in which blood- sucking ectoparasites have been removed will be compared to those of birds in naturally infested nests. This study will be the first attempt to study how hormone levels influence the evolution of group living. The results should lead to new insight into the poorly understood problem of why sociality evolves and why social groups vary in size. This study will be the first to address how hormones affect immune ability under natural conditions. If there is a link, the results will have potentially far-reaching biomedical implications.