Abstract
In group-living animals, social context is known to modulate physiology, behaviour and reproductive output as well as foraging and nutritional strategies. Here we investigate the digestive efficiency of 38 individuals belonging to different social categories of a semi-feral and individually marked flock of greylag geese (Anser anser). During 9 consecutive days in winter 2017, when the ground was fully covered with snow (i.e. no grass or other natural forage available) and the accessible food was standardized, 184 individual droppings were collected and analysed to estimate the apparent digestibility of organic matter (ADOM). Lignin was used as an indigestible internal marker in the food and droppings. The digestive efficiency was higher in pairs with offspring as compared to pairs without offspring or unpaired birds. Furthermore, individuals with high ADOM were more likely to breed successfully in the following season than those with low ADOM. Our findings demonstrate that social status modulates digestive efficiency, probably via a chain of physiological mechanisms including a dampened stress response in individuals enjoying stable social relationships with and social support by their family members (i.e. their own pair-partner and offspring). Our findings underline the importance of the social network in modulating physiology, such as digestive efficiency, and ultimately reproductive success.
Highlights
In group-living animals, social context is known to modulate physiology, behaviour and reproductive output[1,2,3,4,5]
We investigated the potential link between digestion efficiency and social status in 38 individuals belonging to different social categories of a semi-feral and individually marked flock of greylag geese in winter
Our main findings indicate that social status modulates digestive efficiency, probably by dampening the stress response in socially well-embedded individuals, i.e. paired birds accompanied by their offspring
Summary
In group-living animals, social context is known to modulate physiology, behaviour and reproductive output[1,2,3,4,5]. The gut microbiota is known to modulate the hormonal stress response and thereby affect behaviour[26,27]. In rats the absence of a gut microbiota increased the hormonal and behavioural responses to acute stress situations[26,27]. The interplay between these complex mechanisms is termed the brain-gut signalling system, which is related to both short- and long-term stress and health[28]. Agonistic interactions between pairs, families and clans are common Such agonistic and supportive social contexts strongly modulate both the hypothalamic-pituitary and the sympathetic-adrenergic stress responses[37,38]. The apparent digestibility of organic matter (ADOM) was assessed from individual droppings by using lignin as an internal marker in food and droppings
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