Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy
The measurement of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCMs) in faeces has become a widely used and effective tool for evaluating the amount of stress experienced by animals. However, the potential sampling bias resulting from an oversampling of individuals in different states of pregnancy has rarely been i...
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2021
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-2615/11/9/2710/ 2023-08-20T04:07:52+02:00 Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy Maik Rehnus Rupert Palme agris 2021-09-16 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092710 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Animal Reproduction https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11092710 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Animals; Volume 11; Issue 9; Pages: 2710 Alps noninvasive genetic sampling pellets stress hormones reproduction season weather Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092710 2023-08-01T02:43:15Z The measurement of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCMs) in faeces has become a widely used and effective tool for evaluating the amount of stress experienced by animals. However, the potential sampling bias resulting from an oversampling of individuals in different states of pregnancy has rarely been investigated. In this study, we validate a noninvasive method for measuring gestagen metabolites in female mountain hares (Lepus timidus) under controlled conditions. We also measured the concentration of gestagen metabolites of females in a free-ranging population during the early breeding and post-breeding periods from 2014 to 2019. We found significant yearly variations in gestagen metabolites, which were related to the condition of the females due to the snow cover duration before and at the start of the reproduction period. GCMs were significantly influenced by the gestagen metabolite levels. These results are important for improving the interpretation of GCM concentrations in free-ranging populations during the breeding and reproductive periods. Text Lepus timidus MDPI Open Access Publishing Animals 11 9 2710 |
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Open Polar |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
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English |
topic |
Alps noninvasive genetic sampling pellets stress hormones reproduction season weather |
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Alps noninvasive genetic sampling pellets stress hormones reproduction season weather Maik Rehnus Rupert Palme Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy |
topic_facet |
Alps noninvasive genetic sampling pellets stress hormones reproduction season weather |
description |
The measurement of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCMs) in faeces has become a widely used and effective tool for evaluating the amount of stress experienced by animals. However, the potential sampling bias resulting from an oversampling of individuals in different states of pregnancy has rarely been investigated. In this study, we validate a noninvasive method for measuring gestagen metabolites in female mountain hares (Lepus timidus) under controlled conditions. We also measured the concentration of gestagen metabolites of females in a free-ranging population during the early breeding and post-breeding periods from 2014 to 2019. We found significant yearly variations in gestagen metabolites, which were related to the condition of the females due to the snow cover duration before and at the start of the reproduction period. GCMs were significantly influenced by the gestagen metabolite levels. These results are important for improving the interpretation of GCM concentrations in free-ranging populations during the breeding and reproductive periods. |
format |
Text |
author |
Maik Rehnus Rupert Palme |
author_facet |
Maik Rehnus Rupert Palme |
author_sort |
Maik Rehnus |
title |
Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy |
title_short |
Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy |
title_full |
Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy |
title_fullStr |
Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Yearly Variations in GCM Concentrations in Female Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) and the Effect of Pregnancy |
title_sort |
yearly variations in gcm concentrations in female mountain hares (lepus timidus) and the effect of pregnancy |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092710 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Lepus timidus |
genre_facet |
Lepus timidus |
op_source |
Animals; Volume 11; Issue 9; Pages: 2710 |
op_relation |
Animal Reproduction https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11092710 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092710 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2710 |
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1774719784602042368 |