Social stress in female Columbian ground squirrels: density-independent effects of kin contribute to variation in fecal glucocorticoid metabolites

Social interactions among conspecifics can have marked effects on individual physiology, especially through their modulation of the stress axis by affecting the production of adrenal glucocorticoids (GCs). Previous research has focused on how individual GC levels may be influenced by social status, but few studies have considered how the balance between positive (e.g. cooperation) and negative (e.g. competition) social interactions shape individual GC levels. A lack of association between individual GC levels and social factors may be confounded by opposite effects of social competition on the one hand and social cooperation on the other. We tested for these effects in the Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus), a colonial rodent. During the breeding season, females are exposed to territorial unrelated neighbors and to territorial, but more tolerant, close kin. On one hand, territoriality and competition for resources led us to predict a positive association between local colony density and female GC levels. On the other, higher tolerance of philopatric kin females and known fitness benefits led us to predict a negative association between kin numbers and female GC levels. We compared levels of fecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) in females at two different spatial scales during lactation: local (a female’s core territory during lactation, 30-m radius about her nest burrow) and colony-wide. At the local scale, female FCM levels were neither related to colony density nor to the number of co-breeding female kin, but FCM levels increased with age. At the colony scale, female FCM levels varied in a quadratic fashion with female kin numbers. FCM levels decreased by 15% from 0 to 1 co-breeding kin present and increased with > 1 kin present. Among females that had only one co-breeding kin present, daughters (and littermate sisters and mothers, but not significantly) led to a 14% reduction in FCM levels compared with females that had no kin. Our results reject the idea that local colony density is associated with increased GC levels this species, but indicate subtle (positive and negative) effects of kin on individual GC secretion. They further call into question the importance of the nature of social relationships in modulating the stress experienced by individuals. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Few studies have tested how the balance between positive (e.g. cooperation) and negative (e.g. competition) social interactions shapes individual stress and glucocorticoid (GC) levels in group-living animals. In colonial Columbian ground squirrels, breeding females are exposed to territorial neighbors and to more tolerant close kin. We show that kin numbers have subtle (positive and negative) effects on female GC levels. Compared with breeding females with no kin, female GC levels decrease by 15% with the presence of a single co-breeding close relative, but increase with the presence of more than one co-breeding related female. Among females that have only one co-breeding kin, the presence of daughters (and littermate sisters and mothers, but not significantly) leads to a 14% reduction in female GC levels. Our results highlight how GC levels may be influenced by the specific nature of social relationships in group-living animals.