Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34249365›Full record

ArticleConservation physiology2021

Decreasing glucocorticoid levels towards the expansion front suggest ongoing expansion in a terrestrial mammal.

Alexandre Azevedo, Liam Bailey, Victor Bandeira, Carlos Fonseca, Jella Wauters, Katarina Jewgenow

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Conservation physiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. HPA flexibility andPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024
    Review
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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Alexandre AzevedoDepartment of Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
Liam BaileyDepartment of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
Victor BandeiraDepartment of Biology and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Carlos FonsecaDepartment of Biology and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Jella WautersDepartment of Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
Katarina JewgenowDepartment of Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research · DEUniversity of Aveiro · PT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding the causes of range expansions in abundant species can help predict future species distributions. During range expansions, animals are exposed to novel environments and are required to cope with new and unpredictable stressors. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are mediators of the hormonal and behavioural mechanisms allowing animals to cope with unpredictable changes in the environment and are therefore expected to differ between populations at expansion edge and the historic range. However, to date, very few studies have evaluated the relationship between GCs and range expansion. The Egyptian mongoose has been rapidly expanding its range in Portugal over the past 30 years. In this study, we applied an information theoretic approach to determine the most important spatial and environmental predictors of hair GCs (hGCs) in the population, after controlling for normal patterns of hGC variation in the species. We observed a decrease in hGC as distance from the historic range increased (i.e. closer to the expansion front). This distance term was present in all of the top models and had a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) that did not overlap with zero, strongly supporting its influence on hGC. We estimated a 0.031 pg/mg (95% CI: -0.057, -0.004) decrease in hGCs for each kilometre distance to the Tagus River, which was once the limit of the species' distribution. Our results indicate that the species' expansion is unlikely to be limited by mechanisms related to or mediated by the physiological stress response. The decrease in hGC levels towards the expansion edge coupled with limited evidence of a negative effect of human population density suggests that the species' northward expansion in Portugal could continue.

Indexed as

Egyptian mongoosehair glucocorticoidsHerpestes ichneumonrange expansionstress

Identifiers

PMID34249365
PMCPMC8253928
OpenAlexW3179768959

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.