Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2005-8-22
pubmed:abstractText
For group-living animals, the maintenance of a position in the social hierarchy may be associated with physiological costs such as increased stress and energy expenditure or suppressed immune functions. In this study, we experimentally manipulated the social status of house sparrows so that each bird experienced two social environments in random sequence: being dominant and subordinate. For 14 males, we investigated how corticosterone concentrations, energy expenditure and immune functions were affected by these changes in social status position. We found that the cost of maintaining a social status position differed between individuals and were related to individual body size. Birds with small body size had increased costs in terms of increased stress responses and reduced cell-mediated immune responses while being experimentally kept as dominants, while birds with large body size had increased costs while they were subordinates. We also found that birds with increased energetic and immunological costs as dominants obtained a low status position in the large group, while birds with increased costs as subordinates obtained a high status position in the large group. In summary, we found that the costs associated with the maintenance of social status position differed between individuals and was related to the individuals' body size. Furthermore, in a large group, individuals maintained a social status position that minimized energetic and immunological costs.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Sep
pubmed:issn
0018-506X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
48
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
311-20
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2005
pubmed:articleTitle
House sparrows (Passer domesticus) adjust their social status position to their physiological costs.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 106 Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. karin.lindstrom@ebc.uu.se
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't