By Madelyn Lichter
Faculty mentor: Dr. Andrew Dolby
Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) exhibit partial migration, where some populations migrate seasonally, and others do not. In other partially migrant species, migrants and residents exhibit differences in a variety of physiological functions, including short- and long-term stress responses. Triglyceride concentration and heat shock protein 90ɑ (HSP90ɑ) are both measures of physiological stress. HSP90ɑ is less widely studied but is a potential indicator of long-term stress. We looked at triglyceride and HSP90ɑ concentrations in Canada Geese to test the hypothesis that migratory and resident populations would have significantly different concentrations due to the extreme metabolic requirements of successful migration. We harvested liver from 20 Canada Geese carcasses hunted in Virginia and ran two enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to measure concentrations of triglycerides and HSP90ɑ. The average triglyceride concentration for migrants was 55.54 ng/mL (SD=16.8) and 78.23 ng/mL (SD=29.4) for residents, and statistically significantly different between the two groups. The average HSP90ɑ concentration for migrants was 29.65 ng/mL (SD=1.6) and 27.82 ng/mL (SD=4.49) for residents with no significant difference between migrants and residents. The lower triglyceride levels in migrants were unexpected but could indicate overall higher physical fitness in the migrant population compared to the sedentary resident population as less fit individuals may not survive the journey.
