Wildlife As Sentinels of Human Health Effects in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Basin

There is no existing formal, long-term program for gathering evidence of the incidence and severity of the health effects of toxic substances in wildlife. However, research-based studies of bald eagles, herring gulls, night herons, tree swallows, snapping turtles, mink, and beluga over the past 30 years have revealed a broad spectrum of health effects in […]

Non-lethal effects of predators on body growth and health state of juvenile lizards, Psammdromus algirus

Predation risk does not necessarily increase predation rates because prey may be able to behave differentially to cope with higher predation risk. However, antipredatory behaviors may be costly, leading to negative, although non-lethal, effects of predators on prey. We examined in outdoor enclosures whether an experimental increase in predation pressure, which did not increase direct […]

Perioperative stress response in dogs undergoing elective surgery- variations in behavioural, neuroendocrine, immune and acute phase responses

The aim of this trial was to describe the behavioural, neuroendocrine, immune and acute phase stress responses in dogs undergoing elective surgery in normal, clinical practice conditions. Sixteen dogs were submitted to elective orchiectomy or ovariohysterectomy using a standardised surgical protocol. Each animal was confined to the Intensive Care Unit during pre- and post-surgery and […]

Stress response of farmed European abalone reveals rapid domestication process in absence of intentional selection

Farming, and thus the domestication of Haliotis tuberculata, began recently. We compared the responses of unselected farmed and wild abalone to stressors that occur on farms. The aim was to determine if the farm environment had induced differences in the behavioural or physiological performances of the abalone. Thirty hatchery-born 3.5 year-old abalone and thirty wild […]