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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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.8543 https://doaj.org/article/594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf 2023-05-15T15:06:12+02:00 Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen 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 2022-11-01 https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.8543 https://doaj.org/article/594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf en eng Norwegian Polar Institute 0800-0395 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v41.8543 https://doaj.org/article/594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf undefined Polar Research, Vol 41, Pp 1-5 (2022) demographics minerals population dynamics wool ovibos moschatus calf recruitment demo envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2022 fttriple https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.8543 2023-01-22T19:26:07Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland muskox ovibos moschatus Polar Research Unknown Arctic Greenland Polar Research 41 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
demographics minerals population dynamics wool ovibos moschatus calf recruitment demo envir |
spellingShingle |
demographics minerals population dynamics wool ovibos moschatus calf recruitment demo envir 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 Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
topic_facet |
demographics minerals population dynamics wool ovibos moschatus calf recruitment demo envir |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
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 |
author_facet |
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 |
author_sort |
Jesper Bruun Mosbacher |
title |
Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
title_short |
Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
title_full |
Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
title_fullStr |
Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
title_sort |
hair mineral levels as indicator of wildlife demographics?—a pilot study of muskoxen |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.8543 https://doaj.org/article/594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland muskox ovibos moschatus Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland muskox ovibos moschatus Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 41, Pp 1-5 (2022) |
op_relation |
0800-0395 1751-8369 doi:10.33265/polar.v41.8543 https://doaj.org/article/594f3634112b476785c03fc5b321a1cf |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v41.8543 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
41 |
_version_ |
1766337856144408576 |