The social environment is one of the primary sources of challenging stimuli that can induce a
stress response in animals. It comprises both short-term and stable interactions among …

Variation in glucocorticoid hormones (GCs) is often interpreted as reflecting 'stress', but this
interpretation is subject of intense debate. GCs induce gluconeogenesis, and we …

Transportation noise affects urbanized, rural, and otherwise unaltered habitats. Given
expanding transportation networks, alterations in the acoustic landscapes experienced by …

Artificial light at night (hereafter “ALAN”) affects 88% of the land area in Europe and almost
half of the land area in the USA, with even rural areas exposed to lights from agricultural and …

Avian obligate brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other species that may provide
care for the foreign offspring. Brood parasitism often imparts substantial fitness losses upon …

During embryonic life, individuals should adjust their phenotype to the conditions that they
will encounter after birth, including the social environment, if they have access to (social) …

Background It is widely assumed that variation in fitness components has a physiological
basis that might underlie selection on trade-offs, but the mechanisms driving decreased …

When vertebrates are exposed to stressors, the subsequent acute increase in
glucocorticoids by the hypothalamic–pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis triggers a suite of adaptive …

Chronic traffic noise is increasingly recognised as a potential hazard to wildlife. Several
songbird species have been shown to breed poorly in traffic noise exposed habitats …

Life history theory predicts that increased investment in current offspring decreases future
fecundity or survival. Avian parental investment decisions have been studied either via …