Higher dominance rank is associated with lower glucocorticoids in wild female baboons: A rank metric comparison.

Autor: Levy EJ; Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA,. Electronic address: emily.j.levy@duke.edu., Gesquiere LR; Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA,. Electronic address: laurence.gesquiere@duke.edu., McLean E; Oxford College of Emory University, 801 Emory Street, Oxford, GA 30054, USA. Electronic address: mclean@emory.edu., Franz M; Institute for Biology, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Königin-Luise-Strasse 1-3, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: mathias.franz@fu-berlin.de., Warutere JK; Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya., Sayialel SN; Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya., Mututua RS; Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya., Wango TL; Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya; Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Animal Physiology, University of Nairobi, Kenya., Oudu VK; Amboseli Baboon Research Project, PO Box 72211-0020, Nairobi, Kenya., Altmann J; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya,. Electronic address: altj@princeton.edu., Archie EA; Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya,; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. Electronic address: earchie@nd.edu., Alberts SC; Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA,; Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya,; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA. Electronic address: alberts@duke.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Hormones and behavior [Horm Behav] 2020 Sep; Vol. 125, pp. 104826. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Aug 22.
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104826
Abstrakt: In vertebrates, glucocorticoid secretion occurs in response to energetic and psychosocial stressors that trigger the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Measuring glucocorticoid concentrations can therefore shed light on the stressors associated with different social and environmental variables, including dominance rank. Using 14,172 fecal samples from 237 wild female baboons, we test the hypothesis that high-ranking females experience fewer psychosocial and/or energetic stressors than lower-ranking females. We predicted that high-ranking females would have lower fecal glucocorticoid (fGC) concentrations than low-ranking females. Because dominance rank can be measured in multiple ways, we employ an information theoretic approach to compare 5 different measures of rank as predictors of fGC concentrations: ordinal rank; proportional rank; Elo rating; and two approaches to categorical ranking (alpha vs non-alpha and high-middle-low). Our hypothesis was supported, but it was also too simplistic. We found that alpha females exhibited substantially lower fGCs than other females (typical reduction = 8.2%). If we used proportional rank instead of alpha versus non-alpha status in the model, we observed a weak effect of rank such that fGCs rose 4.2% from the highest- to lowest-ranking female in the hierarchy. Models using ordinal rank, Elo rating, or high-middle-low categories alone failed to explain variation in female fGCs. Our findings shed new light on the association between dominance rank and the stress response, the competitive landscape of female baboons as compared to males, and the assumptions inherent in a researcher's choice of rank metric.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None.
(Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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