Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us?
Abstract: Hair sampled from 96 East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus) over the periods 18921927 and 19882009 was analyzed for cortisol as a proxy to investigate temporal patterns of environmental stress. Cortisol concentration was independent of sex and age, and was found at significantly high...
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Language: | English |
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2012
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ftunivantwerpen:c:irua:97595 2024-10-06T13:48:16+00:00 Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? Bechshøft, T.Ø. Rigét, F.F. Sonne, C. Eulaers, Igor Jaspers, Veerle Eens, Marcel Covaci, Adrian 2012 https://hdl.handle.net/10067/975950151162165141 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/J.ENVINT.2012.04.005 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000305728700003 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess 0160-4120 Environment international Chemistry Biology info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2012 ftunivantwerpen https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVINT.2012.04.005 2024-09-10T04:06:33Z Abstract: Hair sampled from 96 East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus) over the periods 18921927 and 19882009 was analyzed for cortisol as a proxy to investigate temporal patterns of environmental stress. Cortisol concentration was independent of sex and age, and was found at significantly higher (p < 0.001) concentrations in historical hair samples (18921927; n = 8) relative to recent ones (19882009; n = 88). In addition, there was a linear time trend in cortisol concentration of the recent samples (p < 0.01), with an annual decrease of 2.7%. The recent hair samples were also analyzed for major bioaccumulative, persistent organic pollutants (POPs). There were no obvious POP related time trends or correlations between hair cortisol and hair POP concentrations. Thus, polar bear hair appears to be a relatively poor indicator of the animal's general POP load in adipose tissue. However, further investigations are warranted to explore the reasons for the temporal decrease found in the bears' hair cortisol levels. Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland Greenland polar bear Ursus maritimus IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen Greenland Environment International 45 15 21 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IRUA - Institutional Repository van de Universiteit Antwerpen |
op_collection_id |
ftunivantwerpen |
language |
English |
topic |
Chemistry Biology |
spellingShingle |
Chemistry Biology Bechshøft, T.Ø. Rigét, F.F. Sonne, C. Eulaers, Igor Jaspers, Veerle Eens, Marcel Covaci, Adrian Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
topic_facet |
Chemistry Biology |
description |
Abstract: Hair sampled from 96 East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus) over the periods 18921927 and 19882009 was analyzed for cortisol as a proxy to investigate temporal patterns of environmental stress. Cortisol concentration was independent of sex and age, and was found at significantly higher (p < 0.001) concentrations in historical hair samples (18921927; n = 8) relative to recent ones (19882009; n = 88). In addition, there was a linear time trend in cortisol concentration of the recent samples (p < 0.01), with an annual decrease of 2.7%. The recent hair samples were also analyzed for major bioaccumulative, persistent organic pollutants (POPs). There were no obvious POP related time trends or correlations between hair cortisol and hair POP concentrations. Thus, polar bear hair appears to be a relatively poor indicator of the animal's general POP load in adipose tissue. However, further investigations are warranted to explore the reasons for the temporal decrease found in the bears' hair cortisol levels. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bechshøft, T.Ø. Rigét, F.F. Sonne, C. Eulaers, Igor Jaspers, Veerle Eens, Marcel Covaci, Adrian |
author_facet |
Bechshøft, T.Ø. Rigét, F.F. Sonne, C. Eulaers, Igor Jaspers, Veerle Eens, Marcel Covaci, Adrian |
author_sort |
Bechshøft, T.Ø. |
title |
Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
title_short |
Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
title_full |
Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
title_fullStr |
Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Measuring environmental stress in East Greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
title_sort |
measuring environmental stress in east greenland polar bears, 1892-1927 and 1988-2009 : what does hair cortisol tell us? |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10067/975950151162165141 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland polar bear Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland polar bear Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
0160-4120 Environment international |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/J.ENVINT.2012.04.005 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/isi/000305728700003 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVINT.2012.04.005 |
container_title |
Environment International |
container_volume |
45 |
container_start_page |
15 |
op_container_end_page |
21 |
_version_ |
1812176405898723328 |