Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27293715›Full record

ArticleConservation physiology2015

Stress and body condition are associated with climate and demography in Asian elephants.

Hannah S Mumby, Khyne U Mar, Chatchote Thitaram, Alexandre Courtiol, Patcharapa Towiboon, Zaw Min-Oo, Ye Htut-Aung, Janine L Brown, Virpi Lummaa

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Conservation physiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Milk Composition of Asian Elephants (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Hannah S MumbyDepartment of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
Khyne U MarDepartment of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
Chatchote ThitaramFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.
Alexandre CourtiolDepartment of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17 10315 Berlin, Germany.
Patcharapa TowiboonFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand.
Zaw Min-OoMinistry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, Myanma Timber Enterprise, Yangon, Myanmar.
Ye Htut-AungDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, Yezin University, Myanmar.
Janine L BrownCenter for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA.
Virpi LummaaDepartment of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Establishing links between ecological variation, physiological markers of stress and demography is crucial for understanding how and why changes in environmental conditions affect population dynamics, and may also play a key role for conservation efforts of endangered species. However, detailed longitudinal studies of long-lived species are rarely available. We test how two markers of stress and body condition vary through the year and are associated with climatic conditions and large-scale mortality and fertility variation in the world's largest semi-captive population of Asian elephants employed in the timber industry in Myanmar. Glucocorticoid metabolites (used as a proxy for stress levels in 75 elephants) and body weight (used as a proxy for condition in 116 elephants) were monitored monthly across a typical monsoon cycle and compared with birth and death patterns of the entire elephant population over half a century (n = 2350). Our results show seasonal variation in both markers of stress and condition. In addition, this variation is correlated with population-level demographic variables. Weight is inversely correlated with population mortality rates 1 month later, and glucocorticoid metabolites are negatively associated with birth rates. Weight shows a highly positive correlation with rainfall 1 month earlier. Determining the factors associated with demography may be key to species conservation by providing information about the correlates of mortality and fertility patterns. The unsustainability of the studied captive population has meant that wild elephants have been captured and tamed for work. By elucidating the correlates of demography in captive elephants, our results offer management solutions that could reduce the pressure on the wild elephant population in Myanmar.

Indexed as

Elephas maximusfaecesglucocorticoidshormoneseasonalityweight

Identifiers

PMID27293715
PMCPMC4778474

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.