The influences of wolf predation, habitat loss, and human activity on caribou and moose in the Alberta oil sands

Wasser, Samuel K.; Keim, Jonah L.; Taper, Mark L.; Lele, Subhash R.

doi:10.1890/100071

Cited by 125 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study on Rangifer to present data on both faecal cortisol and corticosterone metabolites from the same samples (Freeman, 2008; Ashley et al ., 2011; Wasser et al ., 2011; Macbeth, 2013; Yin et al ., 2015), and it has revealed several noteworthy patterns that would have been missed in a cross-sectional study. First, analysis revealed what appears to be a 21 day cyclic pattern in faecal cortisol levels that was not present in faecal corticosterone levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our results even raise the question of whether low to moderate infection intensities with helminths are beneficial for the host, a scarcely explored hypothesis in wildlife. Glucocorticoids may still reflect exposure to other environmental stressors in Rangifer , such as anthropogenic disturbance (Wasser et al ., 2011), and provide conservation-relevant information. However, we caution against the use of stress measurements in isolation from other health and population viability indices until we have a better understanding of what the relationships between these measurements are.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parasites, stress and reindeer: infection with abomasal nematodes is not associated with elevated glucocorticoid levels in hair or faeces

et al. 2016

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites, stress and reindeer: infection with abomasal nematodes is not associated with elevated glucocorticoid levels in hair or faeces

et al. 2016

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“…Previous studies have demonstrated that the specific part of the faeces collected may affect the DNA quality and the amplification success (Rutledge et al, 2008;Gobush et al, 2009;Stenglein et al, 2010;Vynne et al, 2011;Wasser et al, 2011). This is because DNA from faeces is obtained from sloughed epithelial cells of the intestinal lining of the focal species (Albaugh et al, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating preservation medium for the storage of DNA in African lion Panthera leo faecal samples

Tende

Hansson

Ottosson³

et al. 2014

Current Zoology

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Lion faecal samples, collected in the field between 1 hour to 1 week after defecation were preserved in three different media (ethanol, ASL buffer and Two-step storage). The aim was to determine which faecal DNA field preservation method best enhances PCR amplification success. Samples stored in ethanol showed a significantly higher amplification success of microsatellite loci than samples stored in the other two media. In contrast, amplification success of a mitochondrial locus was similar among the samples stored in the three types of media. We reviewed twelve previous studies that employed different media for the storage of faeces, although patterns of success were not fully consistent among different media, ethanol storage was scored highest in the majority of these tests [Current Zoology 60 (3): 351-358, 2014].Keywords Amplification success, Faecal sample DNA, Lion Panthera leo, PCR, Preservation medium For small and elusive wildlife populations, noninvasive DNA sampling from faecal samples is a feasible method for obtaining genetic data (Kohn and Wayne, 1997). Several studies have employed this method to estimate and monitor wildlife (Kohn et al., 1999;Ernest et al., 2000;Banks et al., 2002, Flagstad et al., 2004, Bensch et al., 2006Perez et al., 2006;Zhang et al., 2009). For elusive carnivores such as lions Panthera leo non-invasive sampling is especially suitable because faecal samples are easily encountered and recovered along trails where they defecate to mark territory boundaries (Macdonald, 1980). However, studies that employ non-invasive sampling are confronted with pitfalls such as low quantity and quality DNA which can result in low genotyping success and frequent genotyping errors (Taberlet et al., 1997).The amount and quality of DNA initially present in faeces samples at the time of collection may change during the period of storage and will determine the amount and quality of DNA that can be extracted and used in downstream analyses. It is therefore important to transfer samples into a storage condition that best preserves the DNA prior to the laboratory analysis. The choice of a good preservation medium should be of prime importance for every genetic study, especially when collected samples cannot be processed immediately at the collection site. The identification of effective preservation methods can enhance PCR amplification success rate, increase genotyping accuracy and increase the feasibility of using faecal DNA for genetic studies.Faecal DNA has so far mainly been used in studies of mammals and less often for studies of birds (Idaghdour et al., 2003;Regnaut et al., 2006). In mammals, DNA has been recovered from faeces that were preserved dried (Höss et al., 1992;Kohn et al., 1995;Foran et al., 1997;Taberlet et al., 1997), in 70% ethanol (Höss, 1992;Kohn et al., 1995), in 99%-100% ethanol (Gerloff et al., 1995) and frozen at -20°C (Reed et al., 1997).Several studies have evaluated the relative genotyping success from two or more preservation media (Wasser et al., 1997;Frantzen et...

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“…Our study focused on the Canadian eastern boreal forest within the southern part of the continuous range of boreal caribou. The sensitivity of boreal caribou to human-induced disturbances (e.g., logging [12]; roads [13]; petroleum and natural-gas infrastructures [14]) is well-documented throughout its distributional range in Canada. Further, these disturbances are thought to be the main causes of range recession in eastern North America [15–18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hypothesis of climate-driven selection assumes that previously known geographic gradients are a surrogate for climatic gradients in temperature and precipitation and that selection of certain habitats varies along climatic zones. The road-driven selection hypothesis reflects a trade-off between security and nutrition in which the boreal caribou adjusts its selection of certain habitat classes as a function of distance to roads [13,27]. The additive hypothesis considers that both mechanisms act in concert.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Geographic Gradients in Winter Selection of Landscapes by Boreal Caribou with Implications under Global Changes in Eastern Canada

et al. 2013

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Many animal species exhibit broad-scale latitudinal or longitudinal gradients in their response to biotic and abiotic components of their habitat. Although knowing the underlying mechanism of these patterns can be critical to the development of sound measures for the preservation or recovery of endangered species, few studies have yet identified which processes drive the existence of geographical gradients in habitat selection. Using extensive spatial data of broad latitudinal and longitudinal extent, we tested three hypotheses that could explain the presence of geographical gradients in landscape selection of the endangered boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) during winter in Eastern Canadian boreal forests: 1) climate-driven selection, which postulates that geographic gradients are surrogates for climatic gradients; 2) road-driven selection, which proposes that boreal caribou adjust their selection for certain habitat classes as a function of proximity to roads; and 3) an additive effect of both roads and climate. Our data strongly supported road-driven selection over climate influences. Thus, direct human alteration of landscapes drives boreal caribou distribution and should likely remain so until the climate changes sufficiently from present conditions. Boreal caribou avoided logged areas two-fold more strongly than burnt areas. Limiting the spread of road networks and accounting for the uneven impact of logging compared to wildfire should therefore be integral parts of any habitat management plan and conservation measures within the range of the endangered boreal caribou. The use of hierarchical spatial models allowed us to explore the distribution of spatially-structured errors in our models, which in turn provided valuable insights for generating alternative hypotheses about processes responsible for boreal caribou distribution.

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The influences of wolf predation, habitat loss, and human activity on caribou and moose in the Alberta oil sands

Cited by 125 publications

References 20 publications

Parasites, stress and reindeer: infection with abomasal nematodes is not associated with elevated glucocorticoid levels in hair or faeces

Parasites, stress and reindeer: infection with abomasal nematodes is not associated with elevated glucocorticoid levels in hair or faeces

Evaluating preservation medium for the storage of DNA in African lion Panthera leo faecal samples

Explaining Geographic Gradients in Winter Selection of Landscapes by Boreal Caribou with Implications under Global Changes in Eastern Canada

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