No island-effect on stress for a rodent from a near-shore archipelago
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Abstract
Island rodents are often larger and live at higher population densities than their mainland counterparts, characteristics that have been referred to as “island syndrome”. Island syndrome has been well studied, but few studies have tested for island-mainland differences in stress physiology. We evaluated island syndrome within the context of stress physiology of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) captured from islands (n = 11) and mainland sites (n = 5) in Thousand Islands National Park, Ontario, Canada. Stress physiology was evaluated by quantifying corticosterone, the primary glucocorticoid (stress hormone) of rodents, from hair and its related metabolites from fecal samples. White-footed mice captured in this near-shore archipelago did not display characteristics of island syndrome, nor differences in levels of hair corticosterone or fecal corticosterone metabolites compared with mainland mice. We suggest that island white-footed mice experience similar degrees of stress in the Thousand Islands compared with the mainland. Although we did not find evidence of island syndrome or accompanying changes to stress physiology, we identified relationships between internal (sex, body mass) and external (season) factors and our hormonal indices of stress in white-footed mice.
Cite this as
2019. No island-effect on stress for a rodent from a near-shore archipelago. PeerJ Preprints 7:e27830v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.27830v1Author comment
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Supplemental Information
Summary of trapping success during each trapping session for white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in Thousand Islands National Park, Canada
Numbers apply to the following for each trapping session: Tn – total trap nights, Trip – total disturbed traps, Ind – individually tagged white-footed mice caught, and Capt – total white-footed mice captures.
Data for the manuscript: No island-effect on stress for a rodent from a near-shore archipelago
Additional Information
Competing Interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Nathan D Stewart conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, prepared figures and/or tables, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Gabriela F Mastromonaco analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Gary Burness conceived and designed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.
Animal Ethics
The following information was supplied relating to ethical approvals (i.e., approving body and any reference numbers):
The Trent University Animal Care Committee, in accordance with the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC), provided full approval for this research
Field Study Permissions
The following information was supplied relating to field study approvals (i.e., approving body and any reference numbers):
Field experiments in the Thousand Islands National Park were approved by Parks Canada (Permit No. 22959)
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding data availability:
Raw data are available for review at the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/106RorMkWVAY--z7d3b1UPxOr-A8r700G/view?usp=sharing
Funding
This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada (No.RGPIN-04158-2014), and the Toronto Zoo. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.