Indigenous Knowledge and Biomarkers of Physiological Stress Inform Muskox Conservation in a Rapidly Changing Arctic

Di Francesco, Juliette

Indigenous Knowledge and Biomarkers of Physiological Stress Inform Muskox Conservation in a Rapidly Changing Arctic

dc.contributor.advisor	Kutz, Susan J.
dc.contributor.author	Di Francesco, Juliette
dc.contributor.committeemember	Checkley, Sylvia L.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Gerlach, S. Craig
dc.contributor.committeemember	Mastromonaco, Gabriela F.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Cooke, Steven J.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Pavelka, Mary Susan McDonald
dc.date	2021-02
dc.date.accessioned	2020-12-15T17:18:17Z
dc.date.available	2020-12-15T17:18:17Z
dc.date.issued	2020-12-11
dc.description.abstract	Glucocorticoids play a key role in energy regulation and are mediators of the physiological stress response in mammals. Their concentrations are commonly measured in wildlife to understand the effects of environmental changes and anthropogenic disturbances, but their use is associated with multiple challenges and there is a need for species-specific validation. Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) are an essential part of the Arctic ecosystem, where they have a strong economic, nutritional, and sociocultural value for Indigenous communities. Recent population declines and mortality events suggest that muskoxen may be threatened by the multiple environmental changes and associated stressors to which they are increasingly exposed. Overall, I sought to establish fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) and qiviut (woolly undercoat) cortisol as biomarkers of physiological stress in muskoxen, and to apply these tools together with Indigenous knowledge (IK) to explore potential causes and patterns of physiological stress in wild muskoxen. Through two repeated pharmacological challenges in captive muskoxen, I showed that qiviut cortisol and FGM levels accurately reflect long-term (over the period of the hair’s growth) and short-term changes in circulating cortisol, respectively. I also demonstrated that changes in circulating cortisol are not reflected in qiviut in the absence of growth and highlighted variations across body regions, significant differences in qiviut segments over time, and differences between shed and unshed qiviut. Additionally, I documented IK which provided novel insights on the potential stressors of muskoxen and their specific importance. Finally, I identified important factors influencing qiviut cortisol (sex, geographical location, season, and year), and found associations between qiviut cortisol and marrow fat and lungworm intensity. Findings were interpreted in part collaboratively with IK holders. This work has advanced our understanding of glucocorticoid deposition and stability in hair, and of the limitations and challenges associated with hair glucocorticoid interpretation. It has highlighted the multiple benefits of incorporating IK in wildlife endocrinology studies and provided a framework for doing so. Finally, identifying factors associated with qiviut cortisol is a key step to simultaneously investigating the causes and consequences, both at the individual and population levels, of physiological stress in muskoxen.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Di Francesco, J. (2020). Indigenous Knowledge and Biomarkers of Physiological Stress Inform Muskox Conservation in a Rapidly Changing Arctic (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38436
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112840
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	Arctic	en_US
dc.subject	Muskox	en_US
dc.subject	Ovibos moschatus	en_US
dc.subject	Stress	en_US
dc.subject	Indigenous knowledge	en_US
dc.subject	Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites	en_US
dc.subject	Hair cortisol	en_US
dc.subject	Adrenocorticotropic hormone	en_US
dc.subject	Widlife	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Animal Physiology	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Veterinary Science	en_US
dc.title	Indigenous Knowledge and Biomarkers of Physiological Stress Inform Muskox Conservation in a Rapidly Changing Arctic	en_US
dc.type	doctoral thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Veterinary Medical Sciences	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US