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Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological...
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Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Diversity and Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 14025

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Michael Sheriff

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA
Interests: predator–prey interactions; maternal stress effects; physiological ecology; ecology and evolution; mammals
Dr. Abbey Wilson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, SK S7N 5A2, Canada
Interests: conservation physiology; wildlife health; population monitoring and management; wildlife biology; ecophysiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of physiological biomarkers in wildlife and applied ecology has proven to be a valuable tool for understanding and monitoring wildlife populations. This Special Issue, edited by Dr. Michael Sheriff and Dr. Abbey Wilson, will focus on the identification of physiological biomarkers for use in wildlife and how such information can better our understanding of biological mechanisms and physiological responses to environmental challenges. A broad range of taxa including birds, mammals, insects and fish as well as a broad range of physiological biomarkers including changes in glucocorticoid stress responses, immunity, neurobiology, metabolic parameters, and nutritional physiology will be covered in this Special Issue. Such biomarkers have been used in current research to monitor wildlife populations, with the potential to become an important tool for detecting emerging threats to wildlife and providing early warning of potential population decline. Advances in this multidisciplinary field of study will be presented by promoting the exchange of ideas between researchers working at different levels of study (e.g., individual, population, and ecosystem) and in different fields of study (e.g., genomics, endocrinology, landscape ecology). This Special Issue will also highlight areas where future research is needed and provide the framework for ecologists and biologists to further the use of physiological biomarkers in wildlife and applied ecological studies.

Dr. Michael Sheriff
Dr. Abbey Wilson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental physiology
  • physiological ecology
  • population ecology
  • wildlife biology
  • conservation physiology

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1297 KiB  
Article
Evolution and Biogeography, and the Systems Measurement of Mammalian Biotas
by Charles H. Smith, Patrick Georges and Ngoc Nguyen
Life 2023, 13(4), 873; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13040873 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2643
Abstract
Biological evolution is generally regarded as a stochastic or probabilistic process, per the ideas of Darwin in the nineteenth century. Even if this is true at the meso-scale, it still may, however, be impacted by overarching constraints that we have not yet identified. [...] Read more.
Biological evolution is generally regarded as a stochastic or probabilistic process, per the ideas of Darwin in the nineteenth century. Even if this is true at the meso-scale, it still may, however, be impacted by overarching constraints that we have not yet identified. In this paper, we revisit the subject of mammal faunal regions with a mind to explore a potential kind of macroevolutionary influence. We first identify an optimum seven-region mammal faunal classification system based on spatial and phylogenetic data from a comprehensive 2013 review, and then examine the possibility that this classification provides supporting evidence for a Spinoza-influenced philosophical/theoretical model of the “natural system” concept developed by one of the authors in the 1980s. The hierarchical pattern of regional affinities revealed does do this. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology)
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16 pages, 1342 KiB  
Article
First Steps towards the Development of Epigenetic Biomarkers in Female Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)
by Alexandra Weyrich, Tania P. Guerrero-Altamirano, Selma Yasar, Gábor Á. Czirják, Bettina Wachter and Jörns Fickel
Life 2022, 12(6), 920; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060920 - 20 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2443
Abstract
Free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are generally healthy, whereas cheetahs under human care, such as those in zoological gardens, suffer from ill-defined infectious and degenerative pathologies. These differences are only partially explained by husbandry management programs because both groups share low genetic [...] Read more.
Free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are generally healthy, whereas cheetahs under human care, such as those in zoological gardens, suffer from ill-defined infectious and degenerative pathologies. These differences are only partially explained by husbandry management programs because both groups share low genetic diversity. However, mounting evidence suggests that physiological differences between populations in different environments can be tracked down to differences in epigenetic signatures. Here, we identified differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between free-ranging cheetahs and conspecifics in zoological gardens and prospect putative links to pathways relevant to immunity, energy balance and homeostasis. Comparing epigenomic DNA methylation profiles obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from eight free-ranging female cheetahs from Namibia and seven female cheetahs living in zoological gardens within Europe, we identified DMRs of which 22 were hypermethylated and 23 hypomethylated. Hypermethylated regions in cheetahs under human care were located in the promoter region of a gene involved in host-pathogen interactions (KLC1) and in an intron of a transcription factor relevant for the development of pancreatic β-cells, liver, and kidney (GLIS3). The most canonical mechanism of DNA methylation in promoter regions is assumed to repress gene transcription. Taken together, this could indicate that hypermethylation at the promoter region of KLC1 is involved in the reduced immunity in cheetahs under human care. This approach can be generalized to characterize DNA methylation profiles in larger cheetah populations under human care with a more granular longitudinal data collection, which, in the future, could be used to monitor the early onset of pathologies, and ultimately translate into the development of biomarkers with prophylactic and/or therapeutic potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology)
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14 pages, 2996 KiB  
Article
Label-Free Quantification (LFQ) of Fecal Proteins for Potential Pregnancy Detection in Polar Bears
by Erin Curry, Megan E. Philpott, Jessye Wojtusik, Wendy D. Haffey, Michael A. Wyder, Kenneth D. Greis and Terri L. Roth
Life 2022, 12(6), 796; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060796 - 27 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1735
Abstract
Reliable pregnancy diagnostics would be beneficial for monitoring polar bear (Ursus maritimus) populations both in situ and ex situ, but currently there is no method of non-invasive pregnancy detection in this species. Recent reports in several carnivore species described the identification [...] Read more.
Reliable pregnancy diagnostics would be beneficial for monitoring polar bear (Ursus maritimus) populations both in situ and ex situ, but currently there is no method of non-invasive pregnancy detection in this species. Recent reports in several carnivore species described the identification of fecal proteins that may serve as pregnancy biomarkers; however, repeatability has been limited. The objective of the current analysis was to utilize an unbiased, antibody-free, label-free method for the identification and quantification of fecal proteins to determine if differences associated with pregnancy are detectable in polar bears. Protein was extracted from fecal samples (n = 48) obtained from parturient (n = 6) and non-parturient (n = 6) profiles each at four timepoints: pre-breeding season, embryonic diapause, early placental pregnancy, and mid-placental pregnancy. Protein was prepared and analyzed on the Thermo Orbitrap Eclipse nanoLC-MS/MS system. A total of 312 proteins was identified and quantified; however, coefficients of variation (CV) were high for both abundance ratio variability (384.8 ± 61.0% SEM) and within group variability (86.8 ± 1.5%). Results of this study suggest that the inconsistencies in specific protein concentrations revealed previously by antibody-based assays may not be due to that methodology’s limitations, but rather, are reflective of true variation that exists among samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology)
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13 pages, 1253 KiB  
Article
Biomarkers of Animal Nutrition: From Seasonal to Lifetime Indicators of Environmental Conditions
by Rachel A. Smiley, Tayler N. LaSharr, Heather N. Abernathy, Yasaman N. Shakeri, Rebecca L. Levine, Seth T. Rankins, Rhiannon P. Jakopak, Rebekah T. Rafferty, Jaron T. Kolek, Brittany L. Wagler, Samantha P. H. Dwinnell, Timothy J. Robinson, Jill E. Randall, Rusty C. Kaiser, Mark Thonhoff, Brandon Scurlock, Troy Fieseler, Gary L. Fralick and Kevin L. Monteith
Life 2022, 12(3), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12030375 - 04 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2490
Abstract
Nutrition underpins survival and reproduction in animal populations; reliable nutritional biomarkers are therefore requisites to understanding environmental drivers of population dynamics. Biomarkers vary in scope of inference and sensitivity, making it important to know what and when to measure to properly quantify biological [...] Read more.
Nutrition underpins survival and reproduction in animal populations; reliable nutritional biomarkers are therefore requisites to understanding environmental drivers of population dynamics. Biomarkers vary in scope of inference and sensitivity, making it important to know what and when to measure to properly quantify biological responses. We evaluated the repeatability of three nutritional biomarkers in a large, iteroparous mammal to evaluate the level of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to those traits. During a long-term, individual-based study in a highly variable environment, we measured body fat, body mass, and lean mass of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) each autumn and spring. Lean mass was the most repeatable biomarker (0.72 autumn; 0.61 spring), followed by body mass (0.64 autumn; 0.53 spring), and then body fat (0.22 autumn; 0.01 spring). High repeatability in body and lean mass likely reflects primary structural composition, which is conserved across seasons. Low repeatability of body fat supports that it is the primary labile source of energy that is largely a product of environmental contributions of the previous season. Based on the disparate levels in repeatability among nutritional biomarkers, we contend that body and lean mass are better indicators of nutritional legacies (e.g., maternal effects), whereas body fat is a direct and sensitive reflection of recent nutritional gains and losses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology)
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15 pages, 1226 KiB  
Article
Baseline Gene Expression Levels in Falkland-Malvinas Island Penguins: Towards a New Monitoring Paradigm
by Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon Waters, Jeffrey L. Stott, Ann Duncan, Randi Meyerson and Sarah Woodhouse
Life 2022, 12(2), 258; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12020258 - 09 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1587
Abstract
Health diagnostics of wildlife have historically relied on the evaluation of select serum biomarkers and the identification of a contaminant or pathogen burden within specific tissues as an indicator of a level of insult. However, these approaches fail to measure the physiological reaction [...] Read more.
Health diagnostics of wildlife have historically relied on the evaluation of select serum biomarkers and the identification of a contaminant or pathogen burden within specific tissues as an indicator of a level of insult. However, these approaches fail to measure the physiological reaction of the individual to stressors, thus limiting the scope of interpretation. Gene-based health diagnostics provide an opportunity for an alternate, whole-system, or holistic assessment of health, not only in individuals or populations but potentially in ecosystems. Seabirds are among the most threatened marine taxonomic groups in the world, with ~25% of this species currently listed as threatened or considered of special concern; among seabirds, the penguins (Family Spheniscidae) are the most threatened seabird Family. We used gene expression to develop baseline physiological indices for wild penguins in the Falkland-Malvinas Islands, and captive zoo penguins. We identified the almost complete statistical separation of penguin groups (gentoo Detroit Zoo, gentoo Falkland-Malvinas Islands, rockhopper Detroit Zoo, and rockhopper Falkland-Malvinas Islands) based on gene expression profiles. Implementation of long-term longitudinal studies would allow for the assessment of temporal increases or decreases of select transcripts and would facilitate interpretation of the drivers of change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology)
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16 pages, 1816 KiB  
Article
Gene Expression Profiles in Two Razor Clam Populations: Discerning Drivers of Population Status
by Heather A. Coletti, Lizabeth Bowen, Brenda E. Ballachey, Tammy L. Wilson, Shannon Waters, Michael Booz, Katrina L. Counihan, Tuula E. Hollmen and Benjamin Pister
Life 2021, 11(12), 1288; https://doi.org/10.3390/life11121288 - 24 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1992
Abstract
With rapidly changing marine ecosystems, shifts in abundance and distribution are being documented for a variety of intertidal species. We examined two adjacent populations of Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. One population (east) supported a sport [...] Read more.
With rapidly changing marine ecosystems, shifts in abundance and distribution are being documented for a variety of intertidal species. We examined two adjacent populations of Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. One population (east) supported a sport and personal use fishery, but this has been closed since 2015 due to declines in abundance, and the second population (west) continues to support commercial and sport fisheries. We used gene expression to investigate potential causes of the east side decline, comparing razor clam physiological responses between east and west Cook Inlet. The target gene profile used was developed for razor clam populations in Alaska based on physiological responses to environmental stressors. In this study, we identified no differences of gene expression between east and west populations, leading to two potential conclusions: (1) differences in factors capable of influencing physiology exist between the east and west and are sufficient to influence razor clam populations but are not detected by the genes in our panel, or (2) physiological processes do not account for the differences in abundance, and other factors such as predation or changes in habitat may be impacting the east Cook Inlet population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Outlooks in Ecological Research: The Use of Physiological Biomarkers in Wildlife and Applied Ecology)
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