Abstract
Animals face stressful situations to which they can respond by mounting a physiological response. Few studies have compared the relative effects of two or more stressors on this response. We compared how low food abundance and hunting affected levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM), an indicator of stress, in Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) on the Haida Gwaii archipelago (Canada). We monitored monthly FGM levels over a year on three islands: on two, there was no hunting but deer were exposed to increased risk of severe food depletion; and on one, deer had access to abundant food but were exposed to a few days of hunting each year. Based on the context of the study, we tentatively predicted that FGM levels would be higher in low food abundance/safe islands. We also predicted that FGM levels would be higher in winter when food is rarer, particularly in low food abundance/safe islands. The three deer populations presented similar average FGM levels and seasonal variations. Our predictions were therefore not supported. Our results rather suggested that environmental contrasts, perceived by us as large (increased risk of starvation on ELI and Kunga islands) or associated with differences in animal behavior (human avoidance on Reef island), did not lead to increased stress responses. We discuss plausible explanations, including the down-regulation of the stress response in depleted environments and the lack of stress response to low hunting pressure when behavioral responses to risk are unlikely to be costly.
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Acknowledgments
This project was funded by the project 2010-BLAN-1718 (BAMBI) of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche. We acknowledge the Groupement de Recherche International “Dynamique de la biodiversité et traits d’histoire de vie” and the “Understanding Canada program” from the Government of Canada for the additional financial support. We are indebted to Gwaii Haanas and particularly to C. Bergman for the logistical, technical, and scientific support. Various aspects of this work have benefited from help from members of the Laskeek Bay Conservation Society and of the Research Group on Introduced Species (particularly A. Brown, E. Harris, J. Pattison, B. and K. Rowsell), S. Chollet, T. Verchère, L. Ostermann, M. Hyatt, C. Vallée-Dubuc, L. Vasilinda, M. Gillingham, K. Tipper, J. Morin, T. and R. Husband, I. Ben-Taleb, B. Buatois, R. Leclerc, D. Cornelis, G. Ganem, J. Michaux, S. Morand, B. Cargnelutti, N. Cebe, M. Hewison, G. Janeau, N. Morellet, J.-L. Rames, H. Schwantje, J.-P. Tremblay, M. Pautasso, S. Benhamou, K. Parker, M.-A. Giroux, J. Raven, M.M. Garcia-Rovés, A. Salomon, D. Habault, and R. Fernique. F. Pelletier facilitated this research and made helpful comments on the manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers also helped improving the manuscript.
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Communicated by: Dries Kuijper
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Le Saout, S., Massouh, M., Martin, JL. et al. Levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites do not reflect environmental contrasts across islands in black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) populations. Mamm Res 61, 391–398 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-016-0294-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-016-0294-9