Cargando…
The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality
Free-range livestock grazing is a widespread human activity that not only modifies natural vegetation but also leads to interactions with wild ungulates. Most commonly, the interactions between cattle and wild ungulates have been studied with a focus on competition for high-quality forage. However,...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group UK
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6828671/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31685886 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52290-7 |
_version_ | 1783465400661442560 |
---|---|
author | Horcajada-Sánchez, Fernando Escribano-Ávila, Gema Lara-Romero, Carlos Virgós, Emilio Barja, Isabel |
author_facet | Horcajada-Sánchez, Fernando Escribano-Ávila, Gema Lara-Romero, Carlos Virgós, Emilio Barja, Isabel |
author_sort | Horcajada-Sánchez, Fernando |
collection | PubMed |
description | Free-range livestock grazing is a widespread human activity that not only modifies natural vegetation but also leads to interactions with wild ungulates. Most commonly, the interactions between cattle and wild ungulates have been studied with a focus on competition for high-quality forage. However, other mechanisms, such as the risk of parasite infection, might better describe this interaction. We aim to determine whether livestock affect roe deer (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758) by reducing habitat quality and increasing the probability of infection by shared parasites. We measured noninvasive fecal cortisol metabolites as an indicator of habitat quality as well as the lung nematode larvae burden from the Dictyocaulus genus. A higher Dictyocaulus larvae load was found in the presence of livestock in pines, and feces collected in winter had a higher parasite load than feces collected in autumn. Additionally, fecal cortisol metabolite levels in the roe deer were affected by the interaction between habitat quality and livestock presence and were higher in the poorest habitat and when living in sympatry with cattle. Our results suggest that physiological stress responses in roe deer were mediated by the habitat type and the presence of competitors. The long-term implications of altered physiological responses such as those demonstrated here should be considered in management strategies for deer. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6828671 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group UK |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-68286712019-11-12 The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality Horcajada-Sánchez, Fernando Escribano-Ávila, Gema Lara-Romero, Carlos Virgós, Emilio Barja, Isabel Sci Rep Article Free-range livestock grazing is a widespread human activity that not only modifies natural vegetation but also leads to interactions with wild ungulates. Most commonly, the interactions between cattle and wild ungulates have been studied with a focus on competition for high-quality forage. However, other mechanisms, such as the risk of parasite infection, might better describe this interaction. We aim to determine whether livestock affect roe deer (Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758) by reducing habitat quality and increasing the probability of infection by shared parasites. We measured noninvasive fecal cortisol metabolites as an indicator of habitat quality as well as the lung nematode larvae burden from the Dictyocaulus genus. A higher Dictyocaulus larvae load was found in the presence of livestock in pines, and feces collected in winter had a higher parasite load than feces collected in autumn. Additionally, fecal cortisol metabolite levels in the roe deer were affected by the interaction between habitat quality and livestock presence and were higher in the poorest habitat and when living in sympatry with cattle. Our results suggest that physiological stress responses in roe deer were mediated by the habitat type and the presence of competitors. The long-term implications of altered physiological responses such as those demonstrated here should be considered in management strategies for deer. Nature Publishing Group UK 2019-11-04 /pmc/articles/PMC6828671/ /pubmed/31685886 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52290-7 Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
spellingShingle | Article Horcajada-Sánchez, Fernando Escribano-Ávila, Gema Lara-Romero, Carlos Virgós, Emilio Barja, Isabel The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
title | The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
title_full | The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
title_fullStr | The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
title_full_unstemmed | The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
title_short | The effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
title_sort | effect of livestock on the physiological condition of roe deer (capreolus capreolus) is modulated by habitat quality |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6828671/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31685886 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52290-7 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT horcajadasanchezfernando theeffectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT escribanoavilagema theeffectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT lararomerocarlos theeffectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT virgosemilio theeffectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT barjaisabel theeffectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT horcajadasanchezfernando effectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT escribanoavilagema effectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT lararomerocarlos effectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT virgosemilio effectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality AT barjaisabel effectoflivestockonthephysiologicalconditionofroedeercapreoluscapreolusismodulatedbyhabitatquality |