Class
Article
College
S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources
Department
Wildland Resources Department
Faculty Mentor
Stephanie Landry
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Very little is known ecologically about dusky grouse, an understudied upland game bird that is found throughout western North America. They are commonly hunted without comprehensive knowledge of their ecological importance, physiology, and life history. Our study is focused on dusky grouse that inhabit the eastern Great Basin ranges in White Pine County, Nevada where the landscape is predominantly open sagebrush valleys and patchy montane habitats. This species has adapted to living in this harsh, arid environment that is influenced by hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. Stressors such as changes in climate, human interference, predation, habitat fragmentation, and many more can affect dusky grouse populations. Understanding how stress impacts dusky grouse will help wildlife managers, conservationists, and other scientists understand how to manage and conserve this species. Our study’s goal is to quantify dusky grouse baseline stress hormone levels to help us understand their physiological conditions. We collected non-invasive feather and fecal samples from different age classes, sexes, and reproductive stages of dusky grouse. Feather types are composed of body, tail, primary, and covert feathers. In total, we have collected 83 fecal and 28 feather samples from 2019 and 104 fecal and 170 feather samples from 2020. We are using ELISA Enzyme Corticosterone Immunoassay Kits to measure baseline and chronic corticosterone levels of our samples. Final analysis is still on-going for this project. However, we expect to see variation between sexes, between individuals from different locations, and between reproductive seasons (i.e., breeding, brooding, and nesting). We expect to see these differences because of the variation in sex-specific, environmental, and physical stressors that these birds experience throughout their lifecycle. By providing this information we hope to give more insight to dusky grouse ecology and methods available for measuring corticosterone in avian species. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Zoom link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/87115208381?pwd=NVZiTjZ4Y1l1QnVwNDMzWmUydE9lZz09
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Measuring Stress-Induced Hormone Levels in Dusky Grouse
Logan, UT
Very little is known ecologically about dusky grouse, an understudied upland game bird that is found throughout western North America. They are commonly hunted without comprehensive knowledge of their ecological importance, physiology, and life history. Our study is focused on dusky grouse that inhabit the eastern Great Basin ranges in White Pine County, Nevada where the landscape is predominantly open sagebrush valleys and patchy montane habitats. This species has adapted to living in this harsh, arid environment that is influenced by hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. Stressors such as changes in climate, human interference, predation, habitat fragmentation, and many more can affect dusky grouse populations. Understanding how stress impacts dusky grouse will help wildlife managers, conservationists, and other scientists understand how to manage and conserve this species. Our study’s goal is to quantify dusky grouse baseline stress hormone levels to help us understand their physiological conditions. We collected non-invasive feather and fecal samples from different age classes, sexes, and reproductive stages of dusky grouse. Feather types are composed of body, tail, primary, and covert feathers. In total, we have collected 83 fecal and 28 feather samples from 2019 and 104 fecal and 170 feather samples from 2020. We are using ELISA Enzyme Corticosterone Immunoassay Kits to measure baseline and chronic corticosterone levels of our samples. Final analysis is still on-going for this project. However, we expect to see variation between sexes, between individuals from different locations, and between reproductive seasons (i.e., breeding, brooding, and nesting). We expect to see these differences because of the variation in sex-specific, environmental, and physical stressors that these birds experience throughout their lifecycle. By providing this information we hope to give more insight to dusky grouse ecology and methods available for measuring corticosterone in avian species. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Zoom link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/87115208381?pwd=NVZiTjZ4Y1l1QnVwNDMzWmUydE9lZz09