Survival is negatively associated with glucocorticoids in a wild ungulate neonate  

作　　者：Tess Michelle GINGERY Duane Richard DIEFENBACH Catharine ElizabethPRITCHARD David Charles ENSMINGER Bret Daniel WALLINGFORD Christopher Scott ROSENBERRY 

机构地区：[1]Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit,Pennsylvania State University,University Park,Pennsylvania,USA [2]U.S.Geological Survey,Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit,Pennsylvania State University,University Park,Pennsylvania,USA [3]Department of Ecosystem Science and Management,Pennsylvania State University,University Park,Pennsylvania,USA [4]Pennsylvania Game Commission,2001 Elmerton Avenue,Harrisburg,Pennsylvania,USA [5]Department of Integrative Biology,University of California,Berkeley,Valley Life Sciences Building,Berkeley,California,USA

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2021年第2期214-225,共12页整合动物学（英文版）

基　　金：This work was supported by the Pennsylvania Game Commission,Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit,and The Pennsylvania State University.

摘　　要：It is unknown how ungulate physiological responses to environmental perturbation influence overall population demographics.Moreover,neonatal physiological responses remain poorly studied despite the importance of neonatal survival to population growth.Glucocorticoid(GC)hormones potentially facilitate critical physiological and behavioral responses to environmental perturbations.However,elevated GC concentrations over time may compromise body condition and indirectly reduce survival.We evaluated baseline salivary cortisol(CORT;a primary GC in mammals)concentrations in 19 wild neonatal white-tailed deer(Odocoileus virginianus)in a northern(NS)and southern(SS)area in Pennsylvania.After ranking survival models consisting of variables hypothesized to influence neonate survival(i.e.weight,sex),the probability of neonate survival was best explained by CORT concentrations,where elevated CORT concentrations were associated with reduced survival probability to 12 weeks of age.Cortisol concentrations were greater in the SS where predation rates and predator densities were lower.As the first evaluation of baseline CORT concentrations in an ungulate neonate to our knowledge,this is also the first study to demonstrate CORT concentrations are negatively associated with ungulate survival at any life stage.Glucocorticoid hormones could provide a framework in which to better understand susceptibility to mortality in neonatal white-tailed deer.

关 键 词：NEONATES salivary cortisol stress SURVIVAL UNGULATES 

分 类 号：S86[农业科学—野生动物驯养]