Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen

The tight linkage between mineral status and health and demographics in animals is well documented. Mineral deficiencies have been coupled to population declines in wildlife. Current practices typically rely on liver, kidney and/or serum samples to assess mineral levels. Such destructive sampling st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Jesper Bruun Mosbacher, Jean-Pierre Desforges, Anders Michelsen, Sophia V. Hansson, Mikkel Stelvig, Igor Eulaers, Christian Sonne, Rune Dietz, Bjørn Munro Jenssen, Tomasz Maciej Ciesielski, Syverin Lierhagen, Trond Peder Flaten, Gaël Le Roux, Marie R. Aggerbeck, Niels Martin Schmidt
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2022
Subjects:
demographics
minerals
population dynamics
wool
ovibos moschatus
calf recruitment
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Arctic
Greenland
muskox
Polar Research
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.8543
https://doaj.org/article/594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf
Description
Summary:The tight linkage between mineral status and health and demographics in animals is well documented. Mineral deficiencies have been coupled to population declines in wildlife. Current practices typically rely on liver, kidney and/or serum samples to assess mineral levels. Such destructive sampling strategies are, however, not feasible for remote or endangered populations. Hair may constitute an alternative tissue, sampled through non-invasive means, to investigate mineral levels in wildlife. In the pilot study presented here, we examine whether mineral levels in hair samples from a well-studied muskox (Ovibos moschatus) population in High-Arctic Greenland are associated with a vital rate and may, therefore, serve as indicators of wildlife population demographics. We show that inter-annual variations in levels of three minerals—copper, selenium and molybdenum—are associated with fluctuations in annual calf recruitment, with poor recruitment in years of low mineral levels in hair. Local environmental conditions also varied with calf recruitment but appeared to be less robust predictors of calf recruitment than hair mineral levels. Our results suggest that hair mineral levels may serve as an indicator of vital demographic rates and, ultimately, of wildlife population trends.

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