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Changes in behaviour and faecal glucocorticoid levels in response to increased human activities during weekends in the pin-tailed sandgrouse

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Abstract

Human recreational activities are becoming increasingly widespread and frequent, a fact that may potentially exacerbate their effects on wildlife. These human-related disturbances on animals may induce behavioural and physiological changes that can ultimately affect their fitness, showing a similar anti-predator response that against natural predator or other threats. Here, we combine the use of behavioural and physiological approaches to assess the potential effect of winter human activities on a threatened farmland bird in Europe, the pin-tailed sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata). We compared before, during and after weekend variations in human activity rates, pin-tailed sandgrouse behaviour (flocking and flying behaviour, interspecific association in mixed flocks and habitat use) and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations. Human disturbances, in particular those associated with hunting activities, peaked during weekends. Sandgrouse showed significant behavioural changes (increased sandgrouse-only flock sizes, increased proportion of birds flying and changes in habitat use) during weekends and higher faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations after the weekends compared with during or before weekends. Therefore, physiological stress levels could be modulated by behavioural adjustments such as increased flock sizes and changes in habitat use that may allow sandgrouse to cope with increased human disturbance rates during weekends. Nevertheless, temporal and spatial organization of hunting days among groups of estates might be good strategies to buffer these potential adverse effects on wintering pin-tailed sandgrouse and other steppe species of conservation concern, while preserving a socio-economically important activity such as hunting.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Ortiz, B. Arroyo, J. Martínez and J. Carrasco for their help during fieldwork. We also thank Allison Howard for the English revision of the paper, and to L. Hardouin and an anonymous referee for helping us to improve this manuscript. This study is a contribution to projects funded by the Dirección General de Investigación (projects CGL2007-429 66322/BOS and CGL2008-04282/BOS), Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de Castilla-La Mancha (projects PAI08-0171-9582 and PAC06-137), Comunidad de Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCG10-UAM/AMB-5325), Spanish Ministry of Science (CGL2008-04282/BOS and CGL2009-13029/BOS) and REMEDINAL2 network of the CAM (S-2009/AMB/1783). FC was supported by the Andalucía Talent Hub Program launched by the Andalusian Knowledge Agency, cofounded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (COFUND–Grant Agreement n° 291780) and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Junta de Andalucía, and a JAE-Doc contract funded by CSIC and the European Social Fund (ESF). ABL was supported by the CGL2008-04282/BOS project and by the 2012-BIN-4462 research grant conceded by the UCLM and RT by a PhD grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU-grant no. AP2009-0762).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento s/n, 04120 La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain

    Fabián Casas

  2. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo 12, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Fabián Casas, Ana Benítez-López, Javier Viñuela, Jesús T. García & Francois Mougeot

  3. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Fabián Casas

  4. Terrestrial Ecology Group (TEG), Department of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Rocío Tarjuelo & Manuel B. Morales

  5. Unidad de Zoología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Isabel Barja

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  1. Fabián Casas
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  2. Ana Benítez-López
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  3. Rocío Tarjuelo
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  4. Isabel Barja
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Correspondence to Fabián Casas.

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The project had the permission of the relevant authorities (Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and Agriculture, and regional government of Castilla-La Mancha). The present study did not require the manipulation of live animals. All bird flocks were located from a distance using binoculars during transects and by radio tracking. All censuses and radio-tracking sessions were performed using public rural tracks and privately-owned farms were visited with the permission of owners.

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Communicated by: Pamela C. Rasmussen

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Casas, F., Benítez-López, A., Tarjuelo, R. et al. Changes in behaviour and faecal glucocorticoid levels in response to increased human activities during weekends in the pin-tailed sandgrouse. Sci Nat 103, 91 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1416-6

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