10.5061/DRYAD.BP8JF84
Santicchia, Francesca
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Dantzer, Ben
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
van Kesteren, Freya
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Palme, Rupert
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Martinoli, Adriano
University of Insubria
Ferrari, Nicola
University of Milan
Wauters, Lucas Armand
University of Antwerp
Data from: Stress in biological invasions: introduced invasive grey
squirrels increase physiological stress in native Eurasian red squirrels
Dryad
dataset
2019
interspecific competition
biological invasions impact
physiological stress
Sciurus vulgaris
Sciurus carolinensis
Glucocorticoids
removal experiment
2019-05-14T00:00:00Z
2019-05-14T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12853
65803 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1. Invasive alien species can cause extinction of native species through
processes including predation, interspecific competition for resources, or
disease-mediated competition. Increases in stress hormones in vertebrates
may be associated with these processes and contribute to the decline in
survival or reproduction of the native species. 2. Eurasian red squirrels
(Sciurus vulgaris) have gone extinct across much of the British Isles and
parts of Northern Italy following the introduction of North American
invasive grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). We extracted
glucocorticoid metabolites from faecal samples to measure whether the
presence of the invasive species causes an increase in physiological
stress in individuals of the native species. 3. We show that native red
squirrels in seven sites where they co-occurred with invasive grey
squirrels had glucocorticoid concentrations that were three times higher
than those in five sites without the invasive species. Moreover, in a
longitudinal study, stress hormones in native red squirrels increased
after colonisation by grey squirrels. When we experimentally reduced the
abundance of the invasive grey squirrels, the concentration of faecal
glucocorticoid metabolites in co-occurring red squirrels decreased
significantly between pre- and post-removal periods. 4. Hence, we found
that the invasive species acts as a stressor which significantly increases
the concentrations of glucocorticoids in the native species. 5. Given that
sustained elevations in glucocorticoids could reduce body growth and
reproductive rate, our results are consistent with previous studies where
the co-occurrence of the invasive grey squirrel was associated with
smaller size and lower reproductive output in red squirrels.
Sciurus vulgaris physiological stress datasetThe dataset includes capture
data, biometrics and FGM concentrations for Eurasian red squirrels in
study sites with and without the invasive species (Eastern grey squirrel).
It contains a copy of the main data file used for this paper (for details
see README file).Santicchia_et_al_data_def.xlsx
Northern Italy
Lombardy and Piedmont Regions