Endocrine responses to unpredictable environmental events: stress or anti-stress hormones?

In addition to seasonal changes in morphology, physiology and behavior that occur in predictable annual cycles, there are facultative responses to unpredictable events known as labile (i.e., short-lived) perturbation factors (LPFs). These rapid behavioral and physiological changes have been termed the "emergency" life history stage (ELHS) and serve to enhance life-time fitness. Glucocorticosteroids interacting with other hormones in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) cascade, initiate and orchestrate the ELHS within minutes to hours. Components of the ELHS include: redirection of behavior from a normal life history stage to increased foraging, irruptive-type migration during the day, enhanced restfulness at night, elevated gluconeogenesis and recovery once the perturbation passes. These physiological and behavioral changes allow an individual to avoid potential deleterious effects of stress that may result from chronically elevated levels of circulating glucocorticosteroids over days and weeks. In other words, acute rises in glucocorticosteroids following perturbations of the environment may actually avoid chronic stress and serve primarily as "anti-stress" hormones. Several field studies in diverse habitats indicate that free-living populations have elevated circulating levels of corticosteroids when in an ELHS. However, expression of an ELHS may not always be advantageous and there is accumulating evidence from birds that the adrenocortical responses to LPFs are modulated both on seasonal and individual levels. These data suggest that glucocorticosteroid secretions in response to LPFs not only trigger physiological and behavioral responses but also allow flexibility so that the response is integrated in relation to time of year (normal LHS) as well as individual differences owing to body condition, disease and social status.