Does persistent snowpack inhibit degradation of fecal stress indicators?

Abstract

Stress can be measured non-invasively for free-ranging animals using fecal hormone metabolites. However, fecal samples subject to warm temperatures, wet conditions, or freeze-thaw cycles are liable to degrade. Our results suggest that samples deposited on a persistent snowpack may provide reliable measurements for up to 10 days.

Changes in Fecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites in Captive Coyotes (Canis latrans): Influence of Gender, Time, and Reproductive Status

“…The process of handling animals to obtain biological samples results in the release of GCs and a concomitant spike in stress hormones, resulting in a biased measure of physiological stress [ 8 ]. Collecting carnivore scats is a non-invasive means of measuring GCM levels without the associated increase in stress hormones caused by handling [ 8 , 33 , 34 ]. Collecting scats and the resulting analysis of fecal GCMs (fGCMs) have been conducted since the early 2000s and results in little to no physiological feedback [ 8 , 35 ].…”

Spatiotemporal Variability in Winter Severity: Consequences for White-Tailed Deer Populations and Habitat Sustainability

“…Fecal samples provide a non-invasive means of assessing both physiological stress and diet composition Gross 1982, Parikh et al 2017). Nevertheless, unless frozen shortly follow deposition, the utility of fecal samples for assessing stress declines rapidly, especially under warm or moist conditions (Parikh et al 2018). Therefore, we collected samples during below freezing conditions within one day of the most recent snowfall.…”