Although medical research has now undeniably demonstrated that exposure to stress, particularly early in life, can have adverse effects on health, and therefore on reproduction and survival in animals, much remains to be done to demonstrate how anthropogenic stressors (e.g. climate change and heat stress, chemical or light pollution, disturbances) influence the health of wild birds.
©
© Marcel Burkhardt
©
©
Marcel Burkhardt
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©
Mathias Schäf
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©
Daniele Occhiato
White-throated Dipper
Alpine Swift
White-throated Dipper
Western Barn Owl
Domain
Research
Unit
Anthropogenic influences
Topics
Birds and Human Beings, Ecology, Evolution
Habitat
alpine habitats, farmland, forest, meadows and pastures, rivers & streams, rocky terrain, semi-open farmland, settlements, wasteland, wetlands
Project start
2022
Project status
ongoing
Project management
Pierre Bize
Project region
Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Lucerne, Solothurn, Vaud, Switzerland, Europe
Details
Project objectives
Using the Alpine swift, white-throated dipper and barn owl as our main study systems, we are investigating the physiological and molecular mechanisms linking stress to reproduction and survival in birds. Our current research focuses on (1) changes in mitochondrial traits and energy production, (2) telomere erosion and resistance to oxidative stress, (3) alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and circulating levels of the stress hormone CORT.
Methodology
We study the effects of environmental stressors throughout an organism’s life. Changes early in life often have long-term consequences for the health, reproduction and survival of birds, so we pay particular attention to the short- and long-term effects of stressors early in life. We also study the ageing of individuals to better understand how and why stress often leads to faster rates of ageing and shorter lifespans.
Project partner(s)
- Alexandre Roulin, Uni Lausanne
- Antoine Stier, CNRS Strasbourg
- Blandine Doligez, CNRS Lyon
- François Criscuolo, CNRS Strasbourg
Financial support
Employees
Species concerned
Unit
Anthropogenic influences
We want to understand how human influences affect the well-being, behaviour and individual fitness of birds.
