title: Glucocorticoids in tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus): Some influential factors, and applications in conservation management.
abstract: Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones promote basic life processes, regulate life-history transitions, and help individuals cope with challenges and stressors, thereby playing an important fitness role. Here, we review recent evidence for several factors that influence plasma concentrations of corticosterone (CORT), the main GC in tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), and discuss the application of CORT as a physiological tool to monitor conservation efforts. Observational studies show an association between CORT concentrations and seasonal reproductive activity, ambient temperature, and ecological habitat parameters (including presence of rats/seabird abundance, sex-ratio, and genetic diversity), and experimental studies show a positive influence of acute temperature increase on the CORT response. Recently, CORT physiology has been applied as a monitoring tool in tuatara translocation programmes. No signs of chronic stress in CORT profiles were observed during standard short- and long-term translocation and rat eradication procedures, giving confidence that current conservation efforts are supportive in population recovery. These results provide a foundation for comparative understanding of stress physiology in reptiles, and will be critical for managing future population viability of tuatara in a changing environment.
authors.affiliation: Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Electronic address: anderson.lindsay.erin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Electronic address: nicola.nelson@vuw.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. Electronic address: alison.cree@otago.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cree
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D012104:Reptiles / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: Corticosterone; Ecophysiology; Glucocorticoids; Sphenodon punctatus; Tuatara