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Table 2 Least Squares Means with 95% confidence intervals of haematological variables of starlings from different diet and flight groups derived from the full ANCOVA models reported in Table 1

From: Concerted phenotypic flexibility of avian erythrocyte size and number in response to dietary anthocyanin supplementation

Trait

LSM [95% CI] per diet group (averaged across flight activity groups)

LSM [95% CI] per flight activity group (averaged across diet groups)

Control

Anthocyanin

% difference relative to control

Non-flying

Flying

% difference relative to non-flying

Hct

Haematocrit (%)

52.40 [50.13–54.67]

52.21 [49.81–54.62]

↓ 0.4

52.42 [50.01–54.82]

52.19 [49.93–54.46]

↓ 0.4

Hb*

Haemoglobin content (mg/cm3)

183.46 [177.12–189.81]

185.16 [178.44–191.89]

↑ 0.9

183.20 [176.47–189.93]

185.43 [179.08–191.77]

↑ 1.2

RBCcount

Red blood cell number (106/mm3)

3.83 [3.64–4.02]

4.40 [4.20–4.60]

↑ 15.0

4.11 [3.91–4.31]

4.12 [3.93–4.31]

↑ 0.3

RBCarea

Red blood cell surface area (µm2)

132.41 [130.41–134.40]

127.35 [125.24–129.47]

↓ 3.8

129.41 [127.30–131.53]

130.35 [128.35–132.34]

↑ 0.7

MCH

Mean cell haemoglobin (pg/cell)

48.30 [46.10–50.50]

42.24 [39.91–44.58]

↓ 12.5

45.10 [42.76–47.44]

45.44 [43.24–47.65]

↑ 0.8

MCHC

Mean cell haemoglobin content (mg/mm3)

35.21 [33.88–36.54]

35.53 [34.11–36.94]

↑ 0.9

35.02 [33.61–36.44]

35.71 [34.38–37.04]

↑ 2.0

MCV

Mean cell volume (µm3)

137.39 [132.33–142.44]

118.92 [113.57–124.28]

↓ 13.4

128.96 [123.60–134.32]

127.35 [122.30–132.40]

↓ 1.2

SA:V

Surface-area-to-volume ratio (µm2/µm3)

0.97 [0.93–1.01]

1.08 [1.04–1.12]

↑ 11.2

1.01 [0.97–1.05]

1.03 [0.99–1.07]

↑ 1.7

TSAE

Total surface area of erythrocytes (µm2/µm3)

253.22 [240.35–266.08]

280.45 [266.81–294.10]

↑ 10.8

265.29 [251.65–278.94]

268.38 [255.51–281.25]

↑ 1.2

Hb:TSAE

Haemoglobin-to-TSAE ratio (pg/mm3)

0.73 [0.70–0.76]

0.66 [0.63–0.70]

↓ 9.0

0.70 [0.66–0.73]

0.70 [0.66–0.73]

↑ 0.2

RBCmajor

RBC major axis (µm)

11.75 [11.56–11.94]

11.79 [11.59–11.99]

↑ 0.3

11.77 [11.57–11.97]

11.77 [11.58–11.96]

0.0

RBCminor

RBC minor axis (µm)

7.17 [7.09–7.26]

6.94 [6.85–7.03]

↓ 3.3

7.00 [6.91–7.09]

7.11 [7.03–7.20]

↑ 1.6

RBCar

RBC aspect ratio

1.64 [1.61–1.68]

1.70 [1.66–1.74]

↑ 3.6

1.69 [1.65–1.72]

1.66 [1.62–1.69]

↓ 1.5

RBCcirc

RBC circularity

0.81 [0.80–0.81]

0.78 [0.78–0.79]

↓ 2.7

0.79 [0.78–0.80]

0.80 [0.79–0.81]

↑ 1.2

  1. Bolded values indicate statistically significant differences between experimental groups—see Table 1 for the results of proper inference tests from ANOVA. ↓ and ↑ arrows indicate respectively decrease and increase response
  2. *Hb content was interactively affected by diet and flight activity; detailed statistics for this interaction and contrast comparisons are described in the main text
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Frontiers in Zoology

ISSN: 1742-9994