An acute stressor alters steroid hormone levels and activity but not sexual behavior in male and female Ocoee salamanders (Desmognathus ocoee)

Stressors that are chronic have clear suppressive effects on reproductive behaviors in both males and females. Stressors that are acute have effects on reproductive behavior that are less clear. We measured the effects of an acute bout of handling in laboratory-housed male and female Ocoee salamanders (Desmognathus ocoee), a species with a prolonged mating season. Handling resulted in decreased locomotory activity and elevated plasma corticosterone, a hallmark of the vertebrate stress response. Handling also decreased plasma testosterone in males and elevated plasma estradiol in females. Despite the handling-induced changes in hormone levels, handling had minimal impact on courtship and mating. Other species in which reproduction is insensitive to acute stressors may live in extreme environments with limited reproductive opportunities, whereas Ocoee salamanders live in a relatively temperate environment with multiple reproductive opportunities. Together, these data indicate that an allostatic response to a stressor can alter locomotory activity and elevate corticosterone without suppressing nonessential behaviors like courtship and mating in a species in which reproductive opportunities can occur over a period of multiple months. The lack of reproductive suppression in Ocoee salamanders might be due to the low energetic cost of courtship and mating in this species combined with potentially elevated energetic stores, highlighting the importance of considering energy budgets when making predictions about behavioral effects of acute stressors.