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Spong G, Gould NP, Sahlén E, Cromsigt JPGM, Kindberg J, DePerno CS. Large-scale spatial variation of chronic stress signals in moose. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0225990. [PMID: 31929559 PMCID: PMC6957135 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The physiological effects of short-term stress responses typically lead to increased individual survival as it prepares the body for fight or flight through catabolic reactions in the body. These physiological effects trade off against growth, immunocompetence, reproduction, and even long-term survival. Chronic stress may thus reduce individual and population performance, with direct implications for the management and conservation of wildlife populations. Yet, relatively little is known about how chronic stress levels vary across wild populations and factors contributing to increased chronic stress levels. One method to measure long-term stress in mammals is to quantify slowly incorporated stress hormone (cortisol) in hair, which most likely reflect a long-term average of the stress responses. In this study, we sampled 237 harvested moose Alces alces across Sweden to determine the relative effect of landscape variables and disturbances on moose hair cortisol levels. We used linear model combinations and Akaike’s Information Criterion (corrected for small sample sizes), and included variables related to human disturbance, ungulate competition, large carnivore density, and ambient temperature to estimate the covariates that best explained the variance in stress levels in moose. The most important variables explaining the variation in hair cortisol levels in moose were the long-term average temperature sum in the area moose lived and the distance to occupied wolf territory; higher hair cortisol levels were detected where temperatures were higher and closer to occupied wolf territories, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Göran Spong
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program, Raleigh, NC, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Nicholas P. Gould
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program, Raleigh, NC, United States of America
| | - Ellinor Sahlén
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program, Raleigh, NC, United States of America
| | - Joris P. G. M. Cromsigt
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Jonas Kindberg
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Christopher S. DePerno
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program, Raleigh, NC, United States of America
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Kuijper DPJ, Sahlén E, Elmhagen B, Chamaillé-Jammes S, Sand H, Lone K, Cromsigt JPGM. Paws without claws? Ecological effects of large carnivores in anthropogenic landscapes. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2016.1625. [PMID: 27798302 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Large carnivores are frequently presented as saviours of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning through their creation of trophic cascades, an idea largely based on studies coming primarily out of relatively natural landscapes. However, in large parts of the world, particularly in Europe, large carnivores live in and are returning to strongly human-modified ecosystems. At present, we lack a coherent framework to predict the effects of large carnivores in these anthropogenic landscapes. We review how human actions influence the ecological roles of large carnivores by affecting their density or behaviour or those of mesopredators or prey species. We argue that the potential for density-mediated trophic cascades in anthropogenic landscapes is limited to unproductive areas where even low carnivore numbers may impact prey densities or to the limited parts of the landscape where carnivores are allowed to reach ecologically functional densities. The potential for behaviourally mediated trophic cascades may be larger and more widespread, because even low carnivore densities affect prey behaviour. We conclude that predator-prey interactions in anthropogenic landscapes will be highly context-dependent and human actions will often attenuate the ecological effects of large carnivores. We highlight the knowledge gaps and outline a new research avenue to study the role of carnivores in anthropogenic landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- D P J Kuijper
- Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Waszkiewicza 1d, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland
| | - E Sahlén
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden.,Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, 110 Brooks Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA
| | - B Elmhagen
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - S Chamaillé-Jammes
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS-Université de Montpellier-Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier-EPHE, 1919 Route Mende, 34293 Montpellier 5, France
| | - H Sand
- Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Riddarhyttan, Sweden
| | - K Lone
- Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - J P G M Cromsigt
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden.,Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa
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Sahlén E, Noell S, DePerno CS, Kindberg J, Spong G, Cromsigt JPGM. Phantoms of the forest: legacy risk effects of a regionally extinct large carnivore. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:791-9. [PMID: 26865966 PMCID: PMC4739569 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The increased abundance of large carnivores in Europe is a conservation success, but the impact on the behavior and population dynamics of prey species is generally unknown. In Europe, the recolonization of large carnivores often occurs in areas where humans have greatly modified the landscape through forestry or agriculture. Currently, we poorly understand the effects of recolonizing large carnivores on extant prey species in anthropogenic landscapes. Here, we investigated if ungulate prey species showed innate responses to the scent of a regionally exterminated but native large carnivore, and whether the responses were affected by human-induced habitat openness. We experimentally introduced brown bear Ursus arctos scent to artificial feeding sites and used camera traps to document the responses of three sympatric ungulate species. In addition to controls without scent, reindeer scent Rangifer tarandus was used as a noncarnivore, novel control scent. Fallow deer Dama dama strongly avoided areas with bear scent. In the presence of bear scent, all ungulate species generally used open sites more than closed sites, whereas the opposite was observed at sites with reindeer scent or without scent. The opening of forest habitat by human practices, such as forestry and agriculture, creates a larger gradient in habitat openness than available in relatively unaffected closed forest systems, which may create opportunities for prey to alter their habitat selection and reduce predation risk in human-modified systems that do not exist in more natural forest systems. Increased knowledge about antipredator responses in areas subjected to anthropogenic change is important because these responses may affect prey population dynamics, lower trophic levels, and attitudes toward large carnivores. These aspects may be of particular relevance in the light of the increasing wildlife populations across much of Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellinor Sahlén
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden; Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University 110 Brooks Ave Raleigh NC 27607
| | - Sonja Noell
- Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research Institute for Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria
| | - Christopher S DePerno
- Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University 110 Brooks Ave Raleigh NC 27607
| | - Jonas Kindberg
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden
| | - Göran Spong
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden; Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University 110 Brooks Ave Raleigh NC 27607
| | - Joris P G M Cromsigt
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden; Department of Zoology Centre for African Conservation Ecology Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University PO Box 77000 Port Elizabeth 6031 South Africa
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McKay T, Sahlén E, Støen OG, Swenson JE, Stenhouse GB. Wellsite selection by grizzly bearsUrsus arctosin west—central Alberta. Wildlife Biology 2014. [DOI: 10.2981/wlb.00046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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