Identifying factors that influence stress physiology of the woylie, a critically endangered marsupial

Hing, Stephanie; Narayan, Edward; Thompson, R.C.A.; Godfrey, Stephanie S.

doi:10.1111/jzo.12428

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This pattern is consistent with previous findings in woylies (Hing et al 2016b) and other marsupials (Kemper et al 1989;Dowle et al 2012;Narayan et al 2013). It is likely that sex differences are associated with inherent endocrine differences between male and females (Handa et al 1994) as well as sex differences in response to varying population (e.g.…”

Section: Sexsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…FCM in captive woylies is significantly influenced by season, although the seasonal peak in captive woylies occurs in the cooler seasons (Hing et al 2016b). The peak in FCM observed 6 months after translocation (December, austral summer) may also have coincided with increased stress associated with feral cat abundance, which reaches a summer maxima in some parts of Australia (Jones and Coman 1982).…”

Section: The Influence Of Translocation On Woylie Stress Physiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating Stress Physiology and Parasite Infection Parameters in the Translocation of Critically Endangered Woylies (Bettongia penicillata)

et al. 2017

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Translocation can be stressful for wildlife. Stress may be important in fauna translocation because it has been suggested that it can exacerbate the impact of infectious disease on translocated wildlife.However, few studies explore this hypothesis by measuring stress physiology and infection indices in parallel during wildlife translocations. We analysed faecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) concentration and endoparasite parameters (nematodes, coccidians and haemoparasites) in a critically endangered marsupial, the woylie (Bettongia penicillata), 1-3 months prior to translocation, at translocation, and 6 months later. FCM for both translocated and resident woylies was significantly higher after translocation compared to before or at translocation. In addition, body condition decreased with increasing FCM after translocation. These patterns in host condition and physiology may be indicative of translocation stress or stress associated with factors independent of the translocation. Parasite factors also influenced FCM in translocated woylies. When haemoparasites were detected, there was a significant negative relationship between strongyle egg count and FCM. This may reflect the influence of glucocorticoids on the immune response to micro-and macro-parasites. Our results indicate that host physiology and infection patterns can change significantly during translocation, but further investigation is required to determine how these patterns influence translocation success.

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Section: Sexsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: The Influence Of Translocation On Woylie Stress Physiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Stress Physiology and Parasite Infection Parameters in the Translocation of Critically Endangered Woylies (Bettongia penicillata)

et al. 2017

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“…, Hing et al. ), it should be noted that there were significant interactions with rainfall and temperature in our study (as discussed above). It is noteworthy that sex was not found to have any effect on FGM concentrations of kangaroos in either region, although it has been found to influence FGM in many other species (Dantzer et al.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…) and climatic factors (Hing et al. ), including temperature (Budithi et al. ), and rainfall (King and Bradshaw ), to have an influence on FGM.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that glucocorticoids have a range of physiological functions it is important to recognize that FGM concentrations can be influenced by many factors. Previous studies in mammals have shown both seasonal (Hogan et al 2012, Budithi et al 2016, Pavitt et al 2016) and climatic factors (Hing et al 2017), including temperature (Budithi et al 2016), and rainfall (King and Bradshaw 2010), to have an influence on FGM. Therefore these factors were included as variables in our models in addition to factors associated with urbanization.…”

Section: Site Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Not all urban landscapes are the same: interactions between urban land use and stress in a large herbivorous mammal

Brunton

Clemente

Burnett

2020

Ecological Applications

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Urbanization significantly impacts the health and viability of wildlife populations yet it is not well understood how urban landscapes differ from non‐urban landscapes with regard to their effects on wildlife. This study investigated the physiological response of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) to land use at a landscape scale. Using fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) we compared stress levels of kangaroo populations in urban and non‐urban environments. We modeled FGM concentrations from 24 kangaroo populations against land use (urban or non‐urban) and other anthropogenic and environmental factors, using a linear modeling approach. We found that land use was a significant predictor of FGM concentrations in eastern grey kangaroos with significant differences in concentrations between urban and non‐urban populations. However, the direction of the relationship differed between northern and southern regions of Australia. In the northern study sites, kangaroos in urban areas had significantly higher FGM levels than their non‐urban counterparts. In contrast, in southern sites, where kangaroos occur in high densities in many urban areas, urban kangaroos had lower FGM concentrations than non‐urban kangaroos. Rainfall and temperature were also significant predictors of FGM and the direction of the relationship was consistent across both regions. These results are consistent with the contrasting abundance and persistence of kangaroo populations within the urban matrix between the two study regions. In the northern region many populations have declined over the last two decades and are fragmented, also occurring at lower densities than in southern sites. Our study indicates that it is the characteristics of urban environments, rather than the urban environment per se, which determines the extent of impacts of urbanization on kangaroos. This research provides insights into how the design of urban landscapes can influence large mammal populations.

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Physiological stress levels in wild koala sub-populations facing anthropogenic induced environmental trauma and disease

Narayan

2019

Sci Rep

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Australian small mammals such as koalas must cope with immense pressure from anthropogenic induced stressors or trauma such as bushfires, vehicle collision impacts and habitat disturbance and land clearance. In addition, they must cope with diseases such as chlamydia. To date, there is no published literature on physiological stress levels in wild koala populations compared with identified environmental stressors. This study investigated physiological stress levels within sub-populations of wild koalas encountering environmental trauma and disease from New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD) and South Australia (SA). Physiological stress was determined using a faecal glucocorticoid (or cortisol) metabolites (FGMs) enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) from 291 fresh faecal samples collected from wild koalas at the point of rescue. A healthy breeding sub-population from a forest reserve in QLD acted as a control group. Clearance of prime Eucalyptus habitat had the largest impact on FGMs, followed by bushfire related factors (e.g. flat demeanour, dehydration and burns injury). Koalas with other sources of physical injury (dog-attacks and vehicle collisions) and disease (chlamydia) also had higher FGMs compared to healthy wild koalas. Healthy wild koalas expressed the lowest median levels of FGMs. Overall, the results highlight that anthropogenic-induced stressors tend to increase physiological stress in wild koalas. Thus, the ultimate stressors such as habitat clearance and bush fire events could increase the incidences of proximate stressors such as dog attacks and vehicle collisions, and increase risks of foliage shortage, diseases and mortality. Therefore, there is need for ecological monitoring, conservation management actions and policy changes to curb the koala population crisis, especially within on-going and future land and road development programs.

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Identifying factors that influence stress physiology of the woylie, a critically endangered marsupial

Cited by 7 publications

References 46 publications

Evaluating Stress Physiology and Parasite Infection Parameters in the Translocation of Critically Endangered Woylies (Bettongia penicillata)

Evaluating Stress Physiology and Parasite Infection Parameters in the Translocation of Critically Endangered Woylies (Bettongia penicillata)

Not all urban landscapes are the same: interactions between urban land use and stress in a large herbivorous mammal

Physiological stress levels in wild koala sub-populations facing anthropogenic induced environmental trauma and disease

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