Abstract

The grey wolf (Canis lupus) persists in a variety of human-dominated landscapes and is subjected to various legal management regimes throughout Europe. Our aim was to assess the effects of intrinsic and methodological determinants on the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) of wolves from four European populations under different legal management. We determined HCC by an enzyme-linked immune assay in 259 hair samples of 133 wolves from the Iberian, Alpine, Dinaric-Balkan, and Scandinavian populations. The HCC showed significant differences between body regions. Mean HCC in lumbar guard hair was 11.6 ± 9.7 pg/mg (range 1.6–108.8 pg/mg). Wolves from the Dinaric-Balkan and Scandinavian populations showed significantly higher HCC than Iberian wolves, suggesting that harvest policies could reflected in the level of chronic stress. A significant negative relationship with body size was found. The seasonal, sex and age patterns are consistent with other studies, supporting HCC as a biomarker of chronic stress in wolves for a retrospective time frame of several weeks. Our results highlight the need for standardization of sampling and analytical techniques to ensure the value of HCC in informing management at a continental scale.

Details

Title
Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations
Author
Pereira, Patrícia 1 ; Fandos Esteruelas Núria 2 ; Nakamura Mónia 1 ; Rio-Maior Helena 2 ; Krofel Miha 3 ; Alessia, Di Blasio 4 ; Zoppi Simona 5 ; Robetto Serena 6 ; Llaneza Luis 7 ; García Emilio 8 ; Oleaga Álvaro 9 ; López-Bao, José Vicente 8 ; Fayos Martinez Manena 10 ; Stavenow Jasmine 11 ; Ågren, Erik O 11 ; Álvares Francisco 2 ; Santos, Nuno 2 

 University of Porto, CIBIO/InBIO-Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Vairão, Portugal (GRID:grid.5808.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 1503 7226); University of Porto, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Porto, Portugal (GRID:grid.5808.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 1503 7226) 
 University of Porto, CIBIO/InBIO-Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Vairão, Portugal (GRID:grid.5808.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 1503 7226) 
 University of Ljubljana, Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, Ljubljana, Slovenia (GRID:grid.8954.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 0721 6013) 
 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Turin, Italy (GRID:grid.425427.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1759 3180); Azienda Sanitaria Locale di Collegno e Pinerolo, A.S.L. TO3, Turin, Italy (GRID:grid.425427.2) 
 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Turin, Italy (GRID:grid.425427.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1759 3180) 
 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Turin, Italy (GRID:grid.425427.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1759 3180); Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, CeRMAS, National Reference Centre for Wild Animal Disease, Aosta, Italy (GRID:grid.425427.2) (ISNI:0000 0004 1759 3180) 
 A.RE.NA, Asesores en Recursos Naturales, S.L, Lugo, Spain (GRID:grid.425427.2) 
 Oviedo University, Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO/CSIC/PA), Mieres, Spain (GRID:grid.10863.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2164 6351) 
 SERPA, Sociedad de Servicios del Principado de Asturias S.A., Gijón, Spain (GRID:grid.10863.3c) 
10  TRAGSATEC, Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre de Cantabria, Cantabria, Spain (GRID:grid.10863.3c) 
11  National Veterinary Institute, Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, Uppsala, Sweden (GRID:grid.419788.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2166 9211) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2647048495
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.