Conservation Physiology最新文献

{"title":"Variation in faecal testosterone levels in male gray whales on a foraging ground relative to maturity and timing.","authors":"A Fernandez Ajó, C L Buck, K E Hunt, E Pirotta, L New, D Dillon, K C Bierlich, L Hildebrand, C N Bird, L G Torres","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coae094","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding wildlife reproductive seasonality is crucial for effective management and long-term monitoring of species. This study investigates the seasonal variability of testosterone in male Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) gray whales, using an eight-year dataset (2016-2023) of individual sightings, drone-based photogrammetry and endocrine analysis of faecal samples. We analyzed the relationship between faecal testosterone levels and total body length (TL), body condition (body area index, BAI), sexual maturity and day of the year using generalized additive mixed models. Our findings reveal a significant increase in faecal testosterone levels in mature males (MM) towards the end of the foraging season. This increase was not observed in JM, highlighting age-dependent development of sexual characteristics. No significant relationship was found between testosterone levels and TL. Additionally, BAI was not significantly associated with testosterone levels. Our results suggest that the increasing testosterone levels in MM gray whales may indicate preparation for mating before the southbound migration. These findings provide valuable insights into the reproductive biology of PCFG gray whales and underscore the importance of non-invasive faecal sampling for studying reproductive seasonality in large whales. Our approach not only provides further insights into the seasonality of male reproduction for the PCFG gray whales but also offers tools to enhance the understanding of male reproduction in baleen whales broadly with non-invasive approaches.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"13 1","pages":"coae094"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11744369/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143016381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Land use influences the faecal glucocorticoid metabolites of multiple species across trophic levels.","authors":"Antje Chiu-Werner, Kerry V Fanson, Elissa Cameron, Menna Jones","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coae091","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human landscape modification is amongst the greatest drivers of biodiversity loss. Measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) in wildlife is of great value to measure the impact of human activities on local biodiversity because FGM offer a non-invasive way of measuring an animal's response to changes in its environment in the form of adrenocortical activity. Here, we measure the concentration of FGM in three native Australian mammal species belonging to different trophic levels: the Tasmanian devil (<i>Sarcophilus harrisii</i>) and the spotted-tailed quoll (<i>Dasyurus maculatus</i>), both carnivores, and an omnivore that is primarily an arboreal folivore, the brushtail possum (<i>Trichosurus vulpecula</i>), and compare the FGM concentrations across three major land uses: agricultural, plantation and National Parks. We find that land use influences the FGM concentration in all three species and that general patterns emerge in FGM concentrations across multiple species and trophic levels in relation to land use. Specifically, plantation landscapes are associated with the lowest median and range of variation of FGM concentration in all species with several plausible explanations depending on the species. Our results suggest that measuring FGM in multiple species can offer a time- and cost-efficient snapshot of how different animals experience the same environment, potentially simplifying FGM interpretation. This study is the first to apply a community approach to understand how multiple species of different trophic levels respond collectively, and separately, to different land use types.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"13 1","pages":"coae091"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11744367/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143016410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: Effect of L-alanine exposure during early life stage on olfactory development, growth and survival in age-0 lake sturgeon.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coaf006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coaf006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coae084.].</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"13 1","pages":"coaf006"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11742146/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143016357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blood cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolite concentrations following an ACTH challenge in unanaesthetized brown bears (<i>Ursus arctos</i>).","authors":"Justin A Piñero, Heiko T Jansen, Charles T Robbins, Ellery P Vincent, Diana J R Lafferty","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae093","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae093","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) are increasingly used to index physiological stress in wildlife. Cortisol and other stress hormones act to mobilize glucose, providing energy for the organism to respond to environmental perturbations. Cortisol, the predominant glucocorticoid (GC) in most mammals, is metabolized by the liver and excreted as FCMs. For FCMs to serve as a meaningful physiological index of stress in brown bears (<i>Ursus arctos</i>), we sought to quantify the relationship between blood cortisol and FCM concentrations. Consequently, we conducted an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge on nine unanaesthetized captive brown bears at the Washington State University Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center. We collected 10 ml of blood at 0, 3, 6, 24, 48 and 72 h post-injection to measure changes in blood cortisol concentrations. Faecal samples were collected between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm from 24 h prior to injection through 72 h post ACTH challenge. We found that FCM concentration was positively correlated with blood cortisol concentrations and that peak blood cortisol concentrations occurred between 3 and 6 h following an ACTH challenge, whereas FCMs peaked between 10 and 27 h after injection.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"13 1","pages":"coae093"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11734623/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143016379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Guiding plant conservation using physiological tools: how mechanistic research can bridge disciplinary divides.","authors":"Sean Tomlinson","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae090","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae090","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"13 1","pages":"coae090"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11717880/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142973302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prior thermal acclimation gives White Sturgeon a fin up dealing with low oxygen.","authors":"Angelina M Dichiera, Kelly D Hannan, Garfield T Kwan, Nann A Fangue, Patricia M Schulte, Colin J Brauner","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae089","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae089","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Assessing how at-risk species respond to co-occurring stressors is critical for predicting climate change vulnerability. In this study, we characterized how young-of-the-year White Sturgeon (<i>Acipenser transmontanus</i>) cope with warming and low oxygen (hypoxia) and investigated whether prior exposure to one stressor may improve the tolerance to a subsequent stressor through \"cross-tolerance\". Fish were acclimated to five temperatures within their natural range (14-22°C) for one month prior to assessment of thermal tolerance (critical thermal maxima, CTmax) and hypoxia tolerance (incipient lethal oxygen saturation, ILOS; tested at 20°C). White Sturgeon showed a high capacity for thermal acclimation, linearly increasing thermal tolerance with increasing acclimation temperature (slope = 0.55, adjusted R² = 0.79), and an overall acclimation response ratio (ARR) of 0.58, from 14°C (CTmax = 29.4 ± 0.2°C, mean ± S.E.M.) to 22°C (CTmax = 34.1 ± 0.2°C). Acute warming most negatively impacted hypoxia tolerance in 14°C-acclimated fish (ILOS = 15.79 ± 0.74% air saturation), but prior acclimation to 20°C conferred the greatest hypoxia tolerance at this temperature (ILOS = 2.60 ± 1.74% air saturation). Interestingly, individuals that had been previously tested for thermal tolerance had lower hypoxia tolerance than naïve fish that had no prior testing. This was particularly apparent for hypoxia-tolerant 20°C-acclimated fish, whereas naïve fish persisted the entire 15-h duration of the hypoxia trial and did not lose equilibrium at air saturation levels below 20%. Warm-acclimated fish demonstrated significantly smaller relative ventricular mass, indicating potential changes to tissue oxygen delivery, but no other changes to red blood cell characteristics and somatic indices. These data suggest young-of-the-year White Sturgeon are resilient to warming and hypoxia, but the order in which these stressors are experienced and whether exposures are acute or chronic may have important effects on phenotype.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"13 1","pages":"coae089"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11704418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142958873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights from a year of field deployments inform the conservation of an endangered estuarine fish.","authors":"Brittany E Davis, Bruce G Hammock, Nicole Kwan, Catarina Pien, Heather Bell, Rosemary Hartman, Melinda R Baerwald, Brian Schreier, Daphne Gille, Shawn Acuña, Swee Teh, Tien-Chieh Hung, Luke Ellison, Dennis E Cocherell, Nann A Fangue","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae088","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae088","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Freshwater fishes are increasingly facing extinction. Some species will require conservation intervention such as habitat restoration and/or population supplementation through mass-release of hatchery fish. In California, USA, a number of conservation strategies are underway to increase abundance of the endangered Delta Smelt (<i>Hypomesus transpacificus</i>); however, it is unclear how different estuarine conditions influence hatchery fish. The goal of this study was to evaluate a year of Delta Smelt field deployments to inform species conservation strategies of suitable conditions for smelt physiology. Hatchery-reared Delta Smelt was deployed in experimental cages (seven deployments) throughout the Estuary in the winter, summer and fall of 2019. Effects of season and location of cage deployments on fish health (condition factor and histological condition of liver and gill), growth, thermal tolerance and survival were evaluated. The results indicate both seasonal and location differences, with high survival in the winter (100%) and fall (88-92%) compared to lower survival in summer (67%). In the summer, one of the study sites had no surviving fish following high temperature exposure, which peaked ~26°C. After 29 days in the cages, surviving Delta Smelt in summer and fall showed signs of nutritional stress that may be related to biofouling of the cages limiting passive food inputs, restriction of natural foraging behaviour by containment in the cages, and water temperatures that were too high given the chronically low pelagic productivity in the Estuary overall. Field measurements of upper thermal tolerance (CTmax) following caging exposures suggest that laboratory measures of CTmax may overestimate the realized tolerance in a more stochastic field environment. This study demonstrates the utility of using cages as an experimental tool to better understand aspects of Delta Smelt physiological responses to environmental changes across estuarine habitats in a more natural-field setting, while also highlighting potential limitations of using cages.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"12 1","pages":"coae088"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11669484/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142900374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological features of upriver migration in Kitakami River chum salmon and their connection to aerobic thermal performance.","authors":"Takaaki K Abe, Takashi Kitagawa, Yuki Iino, Motohiro Ito, Katsufumi Sato","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae087","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae087","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The physiological performance of ectotherms is influenced by temperature, raising concerns about the impact of global warming on ectotherms. Understanding the relationship between ecologically relevant temperatures and the physiological performance of ectotherms provides a basis for assessing their resilience to changing environments. Absolute aerobic scope (AAS) is a functional metric of the thermal performance of aquatic ectotherms. The thermal profile of chum salmon (<i>Oncorhynchus keta</i>) returning to the Kitakami River, Japan, in early October has already been explored in a previous study; however, the ecological aspects of their upriver migration (e.g. spawning site, migratory duration and experienced temperature) and their connection to AAS thermal profiles are not fully understood. To address this gap, we released 53 marked chum salmon throughout the spawning season (October-November), of which 48 were tracked using radio telemetry. Over 3 years, 18 were successfully tracked to their spawning sites, and 13 were tracked partway. The longest track was 93 km. The spawning sites of Kitakami River chum salmon depended on migration timing, with earlier run salmon tending towards upriver sites. Chum salmon returning in October spawned in the middle basin, typically requiring >5 days to reach the spawning sites, whereas those returning in November spawned in the lower sections in 1-3 days. Comparing the estimated thermal occupancy of migrating salmon with the published AAS profile, we found that Kitakami River chum salmon in early October spent almost all of their time within the optimal temperature window for AAS and tended to be below the peak temperature of AAS. Our findings provide a basis for the ecological features of migrating chum salmon in rivers and shed light on their aerobic thermal performance in the natural environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"12 1","pages":"coae087"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11669486/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142900428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blubber biopsy biomarkers for baleen whales.","authors":"Ian A Bouyoucos","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae080","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae080","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"12 1","pages":"coae080"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11655621/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142866267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Connecting the dots: relationship between heart rate and overall dynamic body acceleration in free-ranging cattle.","authors":"L J Niccolai, Olivier Devineau, Alexandra Thiel, Barbara Zimmermann, L Alina Evans","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae085","DOIUrl":"10.1093/conphys/coae085","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Monitoring physiological indicators including heart rate (HR) is crucial for managing animal welfare across diverse settings, from precision livestock farming to wildlife conservation. HR is a reliable indicator of energy expenditure and stress, yet the invasive nature of HR loggers limits their application in wild and free-ranging species. This study explores whether overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), measured with an external accelerometer, can serve as a less invasive proxy for HR. Using free-ranging cattle as a model species in Norway, we examined the relationship between ODBA and HR to assess how external accelerometry might indirectly reflect physiological states in settings that resemble wild conditions. Cattle provide an ideal model because they share some characteristics with wild herbivores, including exposure to diverse terrain and potential predation, whilst offering advantages for handling and sensor retrieval. Our findings showed that low ODBA values corresponded to static behaviours (e.g. standing, ruminating), where small movements caused HR spikes, whilst higher ODBA reflected dynamic activities (e.g. walking, foraging), with HR plateauing. This relationship suggests that ODBA can be used to approximate HR in environments where direct HR measurement is challenging. By using accelerometry to infer HR changes in free-ranging cattle, this study offers insights that could extend to wild species, offering a tool for conservationists to monitor and manage animal health and well-being less invasively.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"12 1","pages":"coae085"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11655874/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142866268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}