% pubman genre = article
@article{item_2368065,
title = {{Physiological implications of pair-bond status in greylag geese}},
author = {Wascher, Claudia A. F. and Wei{\ss}, Brigitte M. and Arnold, Walter and Kotrschal, Kurt},
language = {eng},
issn = {1744-9561; 1744-957X},
doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2011.0917},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-06-23},
abstract = {{In group-living vertebrates, reliable social allies play a decisive role in dealing with stressors. For example, support by social allies is known to dampen glucocorticoid responses. It remains unknown, however, how social embedding affects the sympatho-adrenergic axis as indicated by heart rate (HR) in non-human animals. We studied the relationships between HR, pair-bond status and distance from the pair-partner in twenty-five free-ranging greylag geese (Anser anser) in a natural social environment. In three individuals, we investigated HR responses following partner loss. Overall, we found a context- and sex-dependent difference in HR between paired and unpaired individuals, paired males having a lower HR during agonistic encounters, and unpaired females having a lower HR during resting. Also, in paired females HR increased with increasing distance from the partner. Our data suggest that HR is modulated by pair-bond status in greylag geese in a context- and sex-dependent manner, which may be representative for social vertebrates in general. Despite the low sample size, the present study indicates that proper social embedding may optimize an individual{\textquotesingle}s physiological investment in the social domain. This reduces individual energy expenditure and may benefit health and reproductive success.}},
journal = {{Biology Letters}},
volume = {8},
number = {3},
pages = {347--350},
}