Alarm calling, stress, and fitness in central versus peripheral territories of Richardson’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus richardsonii)
| dc.contributor.author | WOOD, THOMAS | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Anderson, Gary (Biological Sciences) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Walker, David (Environment and Geography) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Hare, James (Biological Sciences) | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-12T19:08:44Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-09-12T19:08:44Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-08-23 | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | 2018-08-23T16:06:28Z | en |
| dc.degree.discipline | Biological Sciences | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science (M.Sc.) | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Selfish herd theory predicts that as predators usually approach from the periphery of a group, survivorship and reproductive output of peripheral group members should be decreased. Non lethal encounters with predators may affect prey through the costs associated with increased activation of the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal axis. Richardson’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus richardsonii) defend territories within their colonies and thus may experience differential fitness outcomes based on the location of their territory. I recorded U. richardsonii alarm vocalizations with Wildlife Acoustic SM3 audio recorders at centre and edge locations of a colony to estimate predation pressure and predator type (airborne vs. terrestrial), quantified faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentration as a measure of stress, and tracked offspring production and survivorship of females and their young for a year. The results obtained suggest that individuals occupying centre and edge areas experience different levels of predation pressure, but not FGM concentration, survival, or offspring production. | en_US |
| dc.description.note | October 2018 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/33331 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | Biology | en_US |
| dc.subject | Behavioral Ecology | en_US |
| dc.subject | Alarm calling | en_US |
| dc.subject | Stress | en_US |
| dc.subject | Predation | en_US |
| dc.subject | Ground squirrels | en_US |
| dc.subject | Survivorship | en_US |
| dc.subject | Zoology | en_US |
| dc.title | Alarm calling, stress, and fitness in central versus peripheral territories of Richardson’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus richardsonii) | en_US |
| dc.type | master thesis | en_US |
| local.subject.manitoba | yes | en_US |