Glucocorticoid stress hormones and the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction

Predators affect prey demography through direct predation and through the costs of antipredator behavioral responses, or risk effects. Experiments have shown that risk effects can comprise a substantial proportion of a predator's total effect on prey dynamics, but we know little about their str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2009-07, Vol.106 (30), p.12388-12393
Main Authors: Creel, Scott, Winnie, John A. Jr, Christianson, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animal reproduction
Animals
Biological Sciences
Creels
Deer - physiology
Ecosystem
Elk
Elks
Enzymes
Feces - chemistry
Female
Foraging
Glucocorticoids
Glucocorticoids - metabolism
Immunoenzyme Techniques
Male
Mental concentration
Population Density
Population Dynamics
Population size
Predation
Predators
Predatory Behavior - physiology
Pregnancy
Progesterone - metabolism
Reproduction - physiology
Risk Factors
Seasons
Steroids
Stress, Psychological - physiopathology
Wolves
Wolves - physiology
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Summary:Predators affect prey demography through direct predation and through the costs of antipredator behavioral responses, or risk effects. Experiments have shown that risk effects can comprise a substantial proportion of a predator's total effect on prey dynamics, but we know little about their strength in wild populations, or the physiological mechanisms that mediate them. When wolves are present, elk alter their grouping patterns, vigilance, foraging behavior, habitat selection, and diet. These responses are associated with decreased progesterone levels, decreased calf production, and reduced population size [Creel S, Christianson D, Liley S, Winnie JA (2007) Science 315:960]. Two general mechanisms for the effect of predation risk on reproduction have been proposed: the predation stress hypothesis and the predator-sensitive-food hypothesis. Here, we used enzyme immunoassay to measure fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations for 1,205 samples collected from 4 elk populations over 4 winters to test the hypothesis that the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction is mediated by chronic stress. Across populations and years, fecal glucocorticoid concentrations were not related to predator-prey ratios, progesterone concentrations or calf-cow ratios. Overall, the effect of wolf presence on elk reproduction is better explained by changes in foraging patterns that carry nutritional costs than by changes in glucocorticoid concentrations.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0902235106