heart rate during conflicts predicts post-conflict stress-related behavior in greylag geese心率在冲突期间预计战后灰雁鹅与压力相关的行为.pdfVIP

Heart Rate during Conflicts Predicts Post-Conflict Stress- Related Behavior in Greylag Geese 1,2 2 1 Claudia A. F. Wascher *, Orlaith N. Fraser , Kurt Kotrschal ¨ 1 Konrad Lorenz Forschungsstelle, Grunau im Almtal and Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, 2 Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Abstract Background: Social stressors are known to be among the most potent stressors in group-living animals. This is not only manifested in individual physiology (heart rate, glucocorticoids), but also in how individuals behave directly after a conflict. Certain ‘stress-related behaviors’ such as autopreening, body shaking, scratching and vigilance have been suggested to indicate an individual’s emotional state. Such behaviors may also alleviate stress, but the behavioral context and physiological basis of those behaviors is still poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: We recorded beat-to-beat heart rates (HR) of 22 greylag geese in response to agonistic encounters using fully implanted sensor-transmitter packages. Additionally, for 143 major events we analyzed the behavior shown by our focal animals in the first two minutes after an interaction. Our results show that the HR during encounters and characteristics of the interaction predicted the frequency and duration of behaviors shown after a conflict. Conclusions/Significance: To our knowledge this is the first study to quantify the physiological and behavioral responses to single agonistic encounters and to link this to post conflict behavior. Our results demonstrate that ‘stress-related behaviors’ are flexibly modulated by the characteristics of the pre