Research Unit SPHERES, University of Liège, Avenue de Longwy 185, Arlon, 6700, Belgium.
Laboratório de Primatologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, 1515, Rio Claro, Sao Paulo, 13506-900, Brazil.
Conserv Biol. 2021 Feb;35(1):101-114. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13656. Epub 2021 Jan 13.
As humanity continues to alter the environment extensively, comprehending the effect of anthropogenic disturbances on the health, survival, and fitness of wildlife is a crucial question for conservation science. Many primate populations occupy suboptimal habitats prone to diverse anthropogenic disturbances that may be sources of acute and chronic stress. Quantification of glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations has repeatedly been used to explore the impact of disturbances on physiological stress. Although it is still debated, prolonged elevation of GC levels may impair reproduction, growth, and immune system activity of individuals. We quantified the effect of anthropogenic disturbances on physiological stress in primates with a global meta-analysis based on data from 26 articles, covering 24 distinct species in 13 different countries. Anthropogenic disturbances were classified into 6 distinct categories: habitat loss, habitat degradation, ongoing logging, hunting, tourism, and other human activities. We calculated effect sizes (Hedges' g) with the standardized mean difference in GC concentrations between primates affected by human activity and their undisturbed conspecifics. We ran random-effects models and subgroup analyses to estimate the overall effect as well as a cumulative effect size for each disturbance category. Overall, primates inhabiting sites subject to anthropogenic disturbances exhibited significantly higher GC levels (g = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.28-0.93). Habitat loss and hunting were overall associated with increased GC concentrations, whereas the cumulative effects of the other disturbances were not statistically significant. Biologically, high GC levels may increase fitness by enabling individuals to overcome the challenges linked to anthropogenic disturbances. However, primates in disturbed environments may have sustained elevated GC levels. To strengthen future research, it is necessary to control confounding factors systematically (e.g., diet, reproductive status, predatory pressure, and resource availability) and improve understanding of the link between GC levels and the health, fitness, and survival of animals.
随着人类继续广泛地改变环境，了解人为干扰对野生动物的健康、生存和适应能力的影响，是保护科学的一个关键问题。许多灵长类动物种群栖息在容易受到各种人为干扰的次优栖息地中，这些干扰可能是急性和慢性压力的来源。糖皮质激素（GC）浓度的量化已被反复用于探索干扰对生理压力的影响。虽然仍存在争议，但 GC 水平的长期升高可能会损害个体的繁殖、生长和免疫系统功能。我们通过全球荟萃分析，基于 26 篇文章的数据，对 13 个不同国家的 24 个不同物种进行了量化，探讨了人为干扰对灵长类动物生理压力的影响。人为干扰分为 6 个不同类别：栖息地丧失、栖息地退化、持续伐木、狩猎、旅游和其他人类活动。我们计算了受人类活动影响的灵长类动物与未受干扰的同物种之间 GC 浓度的标准化均数差的效应大小（Hedges' g）。我们进行了随机效应模型和亚组分析，以估计总体效应和每个干扰类别的累积效应大小。总的来说，栖息在受人为干扰的地点的灵长类动物表现出显著更高的 GC 水平（g = 0.60；95%置信区间：0.28-0.93）。栖息地丧失和狩猎总体上与 GC 浓度的增加有关，而其他干扰的累积效应则不具有统计学意义。从生物学角度来看，高 GC 水平可以通过使个体能够克服与人为干扰相关的挑战来提高适应性。然而，处于受干扰环境中的灵长类动物可能会持续维持较高的 GC 水平。为了加强未来的研究，有必要系统地控制混杂因素（例如饮食、繁殖状况、捕食压力和资源可利用性），并增进对 GC 水平与动物健康、适应性和生存之间联系的理解。
