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Under cover of the night: context-dependency of anthropogenic disturbance on stress levels of wild roe deer Capreolus capreolus
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Edité par CCSD ; Oxford University Press -
International audience. Wildlife populations are increasingly exposed to human-induced modifications of their habitats. To cope with anthropogenicstressors, animals can adjust their behaviour—for example, by shifting their activity to more sheltered habitats, or becomingmore nocturnal.However, whether use of spatial and temporal adjustments in behaviourmay regulate the endocrine responseis poorly documented. Here, we analyzed faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) of wild roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) living in ahuman-dominated agro-ecosystem. Using Global Positioning Systemmonitoring of 116 individuals, we assessed their spatialbehaviour and tested whether proximity to anthropogenic structures (linear distance to built-up areas) and the use of refugehabitats (woodland and hedges) influenced FCM levels. In accordance with our predictions, individuals ranging closer toanthropogenic structures during daytime had higher FCM levels, but this relationship was buffered as use of refuge habitatincreased. In addition, this link between proximity to anthropogenic structures andFCMlevels disappeared whenwe analyzedspatial behaviour at night. Finally, FCM levels were higher when the ambient temperature was lower, and during years of lowresource availability. Our results demonstrate that the stress levels of large mammals may be strongly influenced by theirproximity to anthropogenic activities, but that these effects may be buffered by behavioural adjustments in terms of spaceuse and circadian rhythm.Whereas most studies have focused on the influence of environmental heterogeneity, our analysishighlights the need to also consider the fine-scale spatial response of individuals when studying the hormonal response ofwild animals to human disturbance. We emphasize the potential to mitigate this hormonal stress response, and its potentialnegative consequences on population dynamics, through the preservation or restoration of patches of refuge habitat in closeproximity to human infrastructure.
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