Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations

Pereira, Patrícia (author), Fandos Esteruelas, Núria (author), Nakamura, Mónia (author), Rio-Maior, Helena (author), Krofel, Miha (author)

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.

• Language: English
• Keywords: hair cortisol concentration, life cycle, wildlife management, grey wolves, Europe
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 05.04.2022
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 10 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 12, art. 5697
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-138057
• UDC: 630*156
• ISSN on article: 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09711-x
• COBISS.SI-ID: 114684419
• Publication date in RUL: 08.07.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Scientific reports
• Shortened title: Sci. rep.
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• COBISS.SI-ID: 18727432

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 08.07.2022

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: koncentracija kortizola v laseh, upravljanje divjadi, način življenja, volk, Evropa

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P4-0059-2020
• Name: Gozd, gozdarstvo in obnovljivi gozdni viri