Gail McCormick - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Gail McCormick

General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2015

Stress is typically characterized as "acute" (lasting from minu... more Stress is typically characterized as "acute" (lasting from minutes to hours) or "chronic" (lasting from days to months). These terms are of limited use as they are inconsistently used and only encompass one aspect of the stressor (duration). Short and long duration stress are generally thought to produce specific outcomes (e.g. acute stress enhances while chronic stress suppresses immune function). We propose that aspects of stress other than duration, such as frequency and intensity, are important in determining its outcome. We experimentally manipulated duration, frequency, and intensity of application of exogenous corticosterone, CORT, in Sceloporus undulatus (Eastern fence lizards) and measured the immune outcomes. Our findings reveal that immune outcomes of stress are not easily predicted from the average amount or duration of CORT elevation, but that intensity plays an important role. Although three of our treatments received the same average amount of CORT, they produced different effects on immune outcomes (hemagglutination). As predicted by the literature, short-duration exposure to low-dose CORT enhanced hemagglutination; however, short-duration exposure to high-dose CORT suppressed hemagglutination, suggesting that stressor intensity affects immune outcomes of stress. While both are traditionally termed "acute" based on duration, these treatments produced different immune outcomes. Long-duration ("chronic") exposure to CORT did not produce the expected suppression of hemagglutination. Frequency of CORT application did not alter immune outcomes at low intensities. These results highlight the need to quantify more than just the duration of a stressor if we are to understand and manage the ecological consequences of stress. Specifically, we should consider stressor frequency and intensity, as well as duration, for a more complete characterization and understanding of stress.

General and comparative endocrinology, 2014

Prolonged elevations of glucocorticoids due to long-duration (chronic) stress can suppress immune... more Prolonged elevations of glucocorticoids due to long-duration (chronic) stress can suppress immune function. It is unclear, however, how natural stressors that result in repeated short-duration (acute) stress, such as frequent agonistic social encounters or predator attacks, fit into our current understanding of the immune consequences of stress. Since these types of stressors may activate the immune system due to increased risk of injury, immune suppression may be reduced at sites where individuals are repeatedly exposed to potentially damaging stressors. We tested whether repeated acute elevation of corticosterone (CORT, a glucocorticoid) suppresses immune function in eastern fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus), and whether this effect varies between lizards from high-stress (high baseline CORT, invaded by predatory fire ants) and low-stress (low baseline CORT, uninvaded) sites. Lizards treated daily with exogenous CORT showed higher hemagglutination of novel proteins by their pla...

Oecologia, 2013

Ecologists have long sought to explain the coexistence of multiple potentially competing species ... more Ecologists have long sought to explain the coexistence of multiple potentially competing species in local assemblages. This is especially challenging in speciesrich assemblages in which interspecific competition is intense, as it often is in ant assemblages. As a result, a suite of mechanisms has been proposed to explain coexistence among potentially competing ant species: the dominancediscovery tradeoff, the dominance-thermal tolerance tradeoff, spatial segregation, temperature-based niche partitioning, and temporal niche partitioning. Through a series of observations and experiments, we examined a deciduous forest ant assemblage in eastern North America for the signature of each of these coexistence mechanisms. We failed to detect evidence for any of the commonly suggested mechanisms of coexistence, with one notable exception: ant species appear to temporally partition foraging times such that behaviourally dominant species foraged more intensely at night, while foraging by subdominant species peaked during the day. Our work, though focused on a single assemblage, indicates that many of the commonly cited mechanisms of coexistence may not be general to all ant assemblages. However, temporal segregation may play a role in promoting coexistence among ant species in at least some ecosystems, as it does in many other organisms.

General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2012

As anthropogenic stressors increase exponentially in the coming decades, native vertebrates will ... more As anthropogenic stressors increase exponentially in the coming decades, native vertebrates will likely face increasing threats from these novel challenges. The success or failure of the primary physiological mediator of these stressors-the HPA axis-will likely involve numerous and chaotic outcomes. Among the most challenging of these new threats are invasive species. These have the capacity to simultaneously challenge the HPA axis and the immune system as they are often associated with, or the cause of, emerging infectious diseases, and energetic tradeoffs with the HPA response can have immunosuppressive effects. To determine the effects of invasive species on the vertebrate GC response to a novel stressor, and on immunity, we examined the effects of invasive fire ants on native lizards, comparing lizards from sites with long histories with fire ants to those outside the invasion zone. We demonstrated higher baseline and acute stress (captive restraint) CORT levels in lizards from within fire ant invaded areas; females are more strongly affected than males, suggesting context-specific effects of invasion. We found no effect of fire ant invasion on the immune parameters we measured (complement bacterial lysis and antibody hemagglutination) with the exception of ectoparasite infestation. Mites were far less prevalent on lizards within fire ant invaded sites, suggesting fire ants may actually benefit lizards in this regard. This study suggests that invasive species may impose physiological stress on native vertebrates, but that the consequences of this stress may be complicated and unpredictable.

General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2015

Stress is typically characterized as "acute" (lasting from minu... more Stress is typically characterized as "acute" (lasting from minutes to hours) or "chronic" (lasting from days to months). These terms are of limited use as they are inconsistently used and only encompass one aspect of the stressor (duration). Short and long duration stress are generally thought to produce specific outcomes (e.g. acute stress enhances while chronic stress suppresses immune function). We propose that aspects of stress other than duration, such as frequency and intensity, are important in determining its outcome. We experimentally manipulated duration, frequency, and intensity of application of exogenous corticosterone, CORT, in Sceloporus undulatus (Eastern fence lizards) and measured the immune outcomes. Our findings reveal that immune outcomes of stress are not easily predicted from the average amount or duration of CORT elevation, but that intensity plays an important role. Although three of our treatments received the same average amount of CORT, they produced different effects on immune outcomes (hemagglutination). As predicted by the literature, short-duration exposure to low-dose CORT enhanced hemagglutination; however, short-duration exposure to high-dose CORT suppressed hemagglutination, suggesting that stressor intensity affects immune outcomes of stress. While both are traditionally termed "acute" based on duration, these treatments produced different immune outcomes. Long-duration ("chronic") exposure to CORT did not produce the expected suppression of hemagglutination. Frequency of CORT application did not alter immune outcomes at low intensities. These results highlight the need to quantify more than just the duration of a stressor if we are to understand and manage the ecological consequences of stress. Specifically, we should consider stressor frequency and intensity, as well as duration, for a more complete characterization and understanding of stress.

General and comparative endocrinology, 2014

Prolonged elevations of glucocorticoids due to long-duration (chronic) stress can suppress immune... more Prolonged elevations of glucocorticoids due to long-duration (chronic) stress can suppress immune function. It is unclear, however, how natural stressors that result in repeated short-duration (acute) stress, such as frequent agonistic social encounters or predator attacks, fit into our current understanding of the immune consequences of stress. Since these types of stressors may activate the immune system due to increased risk of injury, immune suppression may be reduced at sites where individuals are repeatedly exposed to potentially damaging stressors. We tested whether repeated acute elevation of corticosterone (CORT, a glucocorticoid) suppresses immune function in eastern fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus), and whether this effect varies between lizards from high-stress (high baseline CORT, invaded by predatory fire ants) and low-stress (low baseline CORT, uninvaded) sites. Lizards treated daily with exogenous CORT showed higher hemagglutination of novel proteins by their pla...

Oecologia, 2013

Ecologists have long sought to explain the coexistence of multiple potentially competing species ... more Ecologists have long sought to explain the coexistence of multiple potentially competing species in local assemblages. This is especially challenging in speciesrich assemblages in which interspecific competition is intense, as it often is in ant assemblages. As a result, a suite of mechanisms has been proposed to explain coexistence among potentially competing ant species: the dominancediscovery tradeoff, the dominance-thermal tolerance tradeoff, spatial segregation, temperature-based niche partitioning, and temporal niche partitioning. Through a series of observations and experiments, we examined a deciduous forest ant assemblage in eastern North America for the signature of each of these coexistence mechanisms. We failed to detect evidence for any of the commonly suggested mechanisms of coexistence, with one notable exception: ant species appear to temporally partition foraging times such that behaviourally dominant species foraged more intensely at night, while foraging by subdominant species peaked during the day. Our work, though focused on a single assemblage, indicates that many of the commonly cited mechanisms of coexistence may not be general to all ant assemblages. However, temporal segregation may play a role in promoting coexistence among ant species in at least some ecosystems, as it does in many other organisms.

General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2012

As anthropogenic stressors increase exponentially in the coming decades, native vertebrates will ... more As anthropogenic stressors increase exponentially in the coming decades, native vertebrates will likely face increasing threats from these novel challenges. The success or failure of the primary physiological mediator of these stressors-the HPA axis-will likely involve numerous and chaotic outcomes. Among the most challenging of these new threats are invasive species. These have the capacity to simultaneously challenge the HPA axis and the immune system as they are often associated with, or the cause of, emerging infectious diseases, and energetic tradeoffs with the HPA response can have immunosuppressive effects. To determine the effects of invasive species on the vertebrate GC response to a novel stressor, and on immunity, we examined the effects of invasive fire ants on native lizards, comparing lizards from sites with long histories with fire ants to those outside the invasion zone. We demonstrated higher baseline and acute stress (captive restraint) CORT levels in lizards from within fire ant invaded areas; females are more strongly affected than males, suggesting context-specific effects of invasion. We found no effect of fire ant invasion on the immune parameters we measured (complement bacterial lysis and antibody hemagglutination) with the exception of ectoparasite infestation. Mites were far less prevalent on lizards within fire ant invaded sites, suggesting fire ants may actually benefit lizards in this regard. This study suggests that invasive species may impose physiological stress on native vertebrates, but that the consequences of this stress may be complicated and unpredictable.