Schulte-Hostedde Albrecht I, Mazal Zvia, Jardine Claire M, Gagnon Jeffrey
Department of Biology, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd., Sudbury, ON, Canada.
Centre for Evolutionary Ecology and Ethical Conservation (CEEEC), Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
Conserv Physiol. 2018 Jun 13;6(1):coy026. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coy026. eCollection 2018.
Urban landscapes have well-known effects on wildlife populations. Many species of urban wildlife feed on anthropogenic food wastes, and little is known regarding the sub-lethal physiological consequences of this novel diet. We use samples from three populations of raccoons to test the hypothesis that access to anthropogenic food waste will lead to elevated body mass, blood glucose and serum leptin. Each population varied in their presumed access to food waste. We found that raccoons from the site with the highest presumed access to food waste were significantly heavier and had significantly higher levels of glycated serum protein (GSP, a marker of elevated blood glucose). In addition, GSP concentration was positively related to body mass. No significant differences in serum leptin were detected, nor was serum leptin related to body mass. Urban diets may have significant physiological consequences for urban wildlife related to glucose metabolism. Further research will be needed to determine the evolutionary consequences of the novel urban diet, and whether adaptation is occurring.
城市景观对野生动物种群有着众所周知的影响。许多城市野生动物以人为产生的食物垃圾为食，而对于这种新型饮食的亚致死生理后果却知之甚少。我们利用来自三个浣熊种群的样本，来检验这样一个假设：获取人为食物垃圾会导致体重增加、血糖升高和血清瘦素水平上升。每个种群获取食物垃圾的情况各不相同。我们发现，来自假定获取食物垃圾机会最高地点的浣熊明显更重，且糖化血清蛋白（GSP，血糖升高的一个标志物）水平显著更高。此外，GSP浓度与体重呈正相关。未检测到血清瘦素的显著差异，血清瘦素也与体重无关。城市饮食可能会对城市野生动物与葡萄糖代谢相关的生理产生重大影响。需要进一步的研究来确定这种新型城市饮食的进化后果，以及是否正在发生适应性变化。
