Data From: Complex Tourism and Season Interactions Contribute to Disparate Physiologies in an Endangered Rock Iguana

Creators

Susannah French, Utah State UniversityFollow

Description

To promote survival and fitness, organisms use a suite of physiological systems to respond to both predictable and unpredictable changes in the environment. These physiological responses are also influenced by changes in life history state. The continued activation of physiological systems stemming from persistent environmental perturbations enable animals to cope with these challenges but may over time lead to significant effects on the health of wildlife. In the present study, we tested how varying environmental perturbations driven by tourism and associated supplemental feeding affects the energetics, corticosterone and immunity of six discrete populations of the northern Bahamian rock iguana (Cyclura cychlura inornata and Cyclura cychlura figginsi).We studied populations within and outside the reproductive season and quantified tourist numbers during sample collection. Specifically, we measured clutch size, body condition, plasma energy metabolites, reactive oxygen species, baseline corticosterone concentrations and immune function of male and female iguanas from each population to address whether (i) disparate physiologies are emerging across a gradient of tourism and feeding, (ii) both subspecies respond similarly and (iii) responses vary with season/reproductive condition. We found significant effects of tourism level, season and their interaction on the physiology of both C. c. inornata and C. c. figginsi, supporting the idea that tourism is leading to the divergence of phenotypes. Specifically, we found elevated plasma energy metabolites, oxidative stress and a measure of innate immunity (bactericidal ability), but reduced corticosterone concentrations with increasing tourism in both subspecies of rock iguanas. These physiological metrics differ according to the level of tourism in both subspecies and persist across seasons despite variation with natural seasonal and reproductive changes. These findings suggest that anthropogenic disturbance results in disparate physiologies in northern Bahamian rock iguanas.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8923-9728

Document Type

Dataset

DCMI Type

Dataset

File Format

.csv

Publication Date

7-19-2022

Funder

NSF, Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS)

Publisher

Utah State University

Award Number

NSF, Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) 1752908

Award Title

Collaborative Research: The interplay between host diet, immunity, reproduction, and the microbiome across an anthropogenic-disturbed landscape

Methodology

Instruments used and units of measurements: TRI-CARB 4910TR 110 V Liquid Scintillation Counter (Perkin Elmer) Sonosite Micromax ultrasound, Bothell,WA, USA

Scientfic Names

Cyclura cychlura inornata, Cyclura cychlura figginsi

Referenced by

Susannah S French, Alison C Webb, Travis E Wilcoxen, John B Iverson, Dale F DeNardo, Erin L Lewis, Charles R Knapp, Complex tourism and season interactions contribute to disparate physiologies in an endangered rock iguana, Conservation Physiology, Volume 10, Issue 1, 2022, coac001, https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coac001

Start Date

5-17-2016

End Date

9-10-2016

Language

eng

Code Lists

See README.

Disciplines

Biology

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26078/fhgj-qq15

Recommended Citation

French, S. (2022). Data From: Complex Tourism and Season Interactions Contribute to Disparate Physiologies in an Endangered Rock Iguana [Data set]. Utah State University. https://doi.org/10.26078/FHGJ-QQ15

Checksum

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