Stress-associated metabolites vary with both season and habitat across populations of a climate sentinel species
Stress-associated metabolites vary with both season and habitat across populations of a climate sentinel species
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DOI：
10.1080/15230430.2022.2146633
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发表时间：
2022-12-31
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Wilkening，J. L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Whipple，A. L.;Ray，C.;Wilkening，J. L.
将生理压力与栖息地质量联系起来，可以改进保护工作。生境质量通常是从斑块占有率或人口统计比率推断出来的，可以使用生理压力的衡量标准以更及时和更细微的方式衡量。为了了解应激相关激素是否会随着栖息地质量指标的变化而变化，我们测量了美洲鼠兔(Ochotona Princeps)的粪便糖皮质激素代谢物(FGM)水平。美洲鼠兔是一种栖息地定义良好的小型哺乳动物(距骨)，其质量可能会因地下冰特征的存在而有所不同。2018年春、秋两季，我们在有或没有地下冰的距骨中以非侵入性方式收集鼠兔粪便，以捕捉不同栖息地类型间女性生殖器切割的季节变化。我们使用线性混合效应模型来探索季节、栖息地指标(包括次表层冰状况)和次表层温度之间的交互作用作为女性生殖器切割的预测因子。我们发现了对女性生殖器切割水平的交互作用的支持，这种影响随季节、海拔、假定的冰层存在、禾本科与叉草的比率、禾本科覆盖和急性地下热暴露的措施而变化。然而，只有一个地下温度指标根据推测的地下冰的存在而有所不同。我们的结果有助于提供越来越多的证据，表明FGM可能被开发为一种评估栖息地质量的工具。
Relating physiological stress to habitat quality could refine conservation efforts. Habitat quality, which is often inferred from patch occupancy or demographic rates, might be measured in a more timely and nuanced way using metrics of physiological stress. To understand whether stress-associated hormones vary with metrics of habitat quality, we measured fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) levels in the American pika (Ochotona princeps), a small mammal with well-defined habitat (talus), which can vary in quality depending on the presence of subsurface ice features. In spring and fall 2018, we collected feces noninvasively from pika territories in taluses “with” or “without” subsurface ice to capture seasonal variation in FGM between habitat types. We used linear mixed effects models to explore the interactions among season, habitat metrics (including subsurface ice status), and subsurface temperature as predictors of FGM. We found support for interacting effects on FGM levels, which covaried with season, elevation, putative ice presence, graminoid to forb ratio, graminoid cover, and measures of acute subsurface heat exposure. However, only one subsurface temperature metric differed according to putative presence of subsurface ice. Our results contribute to the growing evidence that FGMs might be developed as a tool to assess habitat quality.