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Hing S, Northover AS, Narayan EJ, Wayne AF, Jones KL, Keatley S, Thompson RCA, Godfrey SS. Evaluating Stress Physiology and Parasite Infection Parameters in the Translocation of Critically Endangered Woylies (Bettongia penicillata). ECOHEALTH 2017; 14:128-138. [PMID: 28213652 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-017-1214-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Revised: 12/31/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Translocation can be stressful for wildlife. Stress may be important in fauna translocation because it has been suggested that it can exacerbate the impact of infectious disease on translocated wildlife. However, few studies explore this hypothesis by measuring stress physiology and infection indices in parallel during wildlife translocations. We analysed faecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) concentration and endoparasite parameters (nematodes, coccidians and haemoparasites) in a critically endangered marsupial, the woylie (Bettongia penicillata), 1-3 months prior to translocation, at translocation, and 6 months later. FCM for both translocated and resident woylies was significantly higher after translocation compared to before or at translocation. In addition, body condition decreased with increasing FCM after translocation. These patterns in host condition and physiology may be indicative of translocation stress or stress associated with factors independent of the translocation. Parasite factors also influenced FCM in translocated woylies. When haemoparasites were detected, there was a significant negative relationship between strongyle egg count and FCM. This may reflect the influence of glucocorticoids on the immune response to micro- and macro-parasites. Our results indicate that host physiology and infection patterns can change significantly during translocation, but further investigation is required to determine how these patterns influence translocation success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Hing
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia.
| | - Amy S Northover
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
| | - Edward J Narayan
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia
| | - Adrian F Wayne
- Science and Conservation Division, Department of Parks and Wildlife, Manjimup, WA, 6258, Australia
| | - Krista L Jones
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
| | - Sarah Keatley
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
| | - R C Andrew Thompson
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
| | - Stephanie S Godfrey
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
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Spencer PBS, Sandover S, Nihill K, Wale CH, How RA, Schmitt LH. Living in isolation: ecological, demographic and genetic patterns in northern Australia’s top marsupial predator on Koolan Island. AUSTRALIAN MAMMALOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1071/am16004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Koolan Island supports an abundant population of the threatened northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus). We used a mark–release–recapture program that produced 2089 captures from 2009 to 2012 to examine demographic and genetic parameters in this insular population and compare to other localities. Every captured female was either lactating or carrying up to eight young over the breeding season, July–September. Unlike several other populations, males on Koolan Island can survive long after breeding, but never into a second breeding season. Females can survive and reproduce for two successive annual breeding seasons and occasionally survive to a third. There is marked sexual dimorphism but it is less pronounced, and both sexes are smaller than their mainland counterparts. Quolls were recorded moving over 4 km and apparent abundance was far higher on Koolan Island than the mainland. Genetic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial markers demonstrate a distinctive signature. Koolan island has only 34% of the allelic richness of the entire species, and only 38% of the alleles in Kimberley mainland and near-shore island populations. There is no evidence of recent or long-term population decline. Kimberley island faunas have distinctive demographic and genetic profiles that should be appraised before considering translocations for conservation purposes.
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Griffiths AD, Brook BW. Fire impacts recruitment more than survival of small-mammals in a tropical savanna. Ecosphere 2015. [DOI: 10.1890/es14-00519.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Hing S, Narayan E, Thompson RCA, Godfrey S. A review of factors influencing the stress response in Australian marsupials. CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY 2014; 2:cou027. [PMID: 27293648 PMCID: PMC4732483 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/cou027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2014] [Revised: 05/16/2014] [Accepted: 06/02/2014] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Many Australian marsupials are threatened species. In order to manage in situ and ex situ populations effectively, it is important to understand how marsupials respond to threats. Stress physiology (the study of the response of animals to challenging stimuli), a key approach in conservation physiology, can be used to characterize the physiological response of wildlife to threats. We reviewed the literature on the measurement of glucocorticoids (GCs), endocrine indicators of stress, in order to understand the stress response to conservation-relevant stressors in Australian marsupials and identified 29 studies. These studies employed a range of methods to measure GCs, with faecal glucocorticoid metabolite enzyme immunoassay being the most common method. The main stressors considered in studies of marsupials were capture and handling. To date, the benefits of stress physiology have yet to be harnessed fully in marsupial conservation. Despite a theoretical base dating back to the 1960s, GCs have only been used to understand how 21 of the 142 extant species of Australian marsupial respond to stressors. These studies include merely six of the 60 marsupial species of conservation concern (IUCN Near Threatened to Critically Endangered). Furthermore, the fitness consequences of stress for Australian marsupials are rarely examined. Individual and species differences in the physiological stress response also require further investigation, because significant species-specific variations in GC levels in response to stressors can shed light on why some individuals or species are more vulnerable to stress factors while others appear more resilient. This review summarizes trends, knowledge gaps and future research directions for stress physiology research in Australian marsupial conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Hing
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia
| | - Edward Narayan
- Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - R. C. Andrew Thompson
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia
| | - Stephanie Godfrey
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia
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Kennedy GA, Coleman GJ, Armstrong SM. Entrainment of Circadian Wheel-Running Rhythms of the Northern Brown Bandicoot,Isoodon macrourus, by Daily Restricted Feeding Schedules. Chronobiol Int 2009. [DOI: 10.3109/07420529509057263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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Vernes K, Pope LC. Reproduction in the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus) in the Australian Wet Tropics. AUST J ZOOL 2009. [DOI: 10.1071/zo09019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
We investigated timing of reproduction in a wild population of northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus) in the Australian Wet Tropics. Almost all births occurred during the late dry season and early wet season, and most adult females (78–96%) were carrying pouch young during those times. Litter sizes ranged from 1 to 6 pouch young (mean = 3.1) and was not influenced by season. Adult males had significantly larger testes in the late dry and early wet seasons, corresponding with the peak in births. Daylength was the only environmental factor that predicted the presence of a litter; when daylength exceeded 12 h, more than 70% of captured females were carrying pouch young, and most (94%) births were estimated to have occurred on days with >12 h of daylight. Various environmental factors have been proposed as a cue for breeding in I. macrourus, with daylength though to be the primary cue initiating breeding in temperate Australia, but temperature and rainfall thought to be more important in the tropics. Our data suggest that in the Australian Wet Tropics, increasing daylength in the late dry season acts as the primary cue for breeding.
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