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The corticosterone stress response and mercury contamination in free-living tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor

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Abstract

We determined mercury concentrations in tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, from Massachusetts and Maine with different levels of contamination. Baseline and stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentrations from adults and nestlings (Massachusetts only) were compared with mercury concentrations. In Massachusetts, adult baseline corticosterone was negatively correlated with blood mercury, but showed a nearly-significant positive correlation with feather mercury. There was a negative relationship between baseline corticosterone and blood mercury in nestlings and between baseline corticosterone and egg mercury. There was no relationship between mercury and stress-induced corticosterone in any of the groups, or with baseline corticosterone in Maine sites where mercury levels were lower. The findings suggest blood and egg mercury may be a better indicator of current condition than feather mercury. Further, mercury contamination may not alter stress-induced corticosterone concentrations in tree swallows but appears to have a significant impact on baseline circulating corticosterone.

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Acknowledgments

This project was made possible through a grant from Tufts University Institute for the Environment to MDF, and grants from the US National Science Foundation (IBN-0235044 and IOB-0542099) to LMR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA

    Melinda D. Franceschini, J. Michael Reed & L. Michael Romero

  2. BioDiversity Research Institute, Gorham, ME, 04038, USA

    Oksana P. Lane & David C. Evers

  3. US Environmental Protection Agency, New England Regional Laboratory, North Chelmsford, MA, 01863, USA

    Bart Hoskins

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  1. Melinda D. Franceschini
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  2. Oksana P. Lane
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  3. David C. Evers
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  4. J. Michael Reed
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  5. Bart Hoskins
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  6. L. Michael Romero
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Correspondence to Melinda D. Franceschini.

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Franceschini, M.D., Lane, O.P., Evers, D.C. et al. The corticosterone stress response and mercury contamination in free-living tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor . Ecotoxicology 18, 514–521 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-009-0309-2

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