Differences in adrenocortical responses between urban and rural burrowing owls: poorly-known underlying mechanisms and their implications for conservation

The hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal/interrenal (HPA) axis of vertebrates integrates external information and orchestrates responses to cope with energy-demanding and stressful events through changes in circulating glucocorticoid levels. Urbanization exposes animals to a wide variety of ever-changing stimuli caused by human activities that may affect local wildlife populations. Here, we empirically tested the hypothesis that urban and rural owls (Athene cunicularia) show different adrenocortical responses to stress, with urban individuals showing a reduced HPA-axis response compared to rural counterparts to cope with the high levels of human disturbance typical of urban areas. We applied a standard capture-restraint protocol to measure baseline levels and stress-induced corticosterone (CORT) responses. Urban and rural owls showed similar circulating baseline CORT levels. However, maximum CORT levels were attained earlier and were of lower magnitude in urban compared to rural owls, which showed a more pronounced and long-lasting response. Variability in CORT responses was also greater in rural owls and contained the narrower variability displayed by urban ones. These results suggest that only individuals expressing low-HPA-axis responses can thrive in cities, a pattern potentially mediated by three alternative and non-exclusive hypotheses: phenotypic plasticity, natural selection and matching habitat choice. Due to their different conservation implications, we recommend further research to properly understand wildlife responses to humans in an increasingly urbanized world.