Data · dataset · 2026
An investigation of the behaviour and physiology of female fallow deer (Dama dama) during pregnancy
Listed in ZivaHub and Deakin Research Online and DMU Figshare — shown once because both records carry DOI 10.17034/32640876.v1
The Anthropocene places wildlife under threat, with increased anthropogenic stressors on the micro (e.g. human conflict) and macro (e.g. climate change) scales it severely threatens the survival of populations.
Description
Biologically stress is controlled by the Central Nervous System (CNS) and comprises two pathways associated to the release of short term catecholamines (adrenalin/noradrenalin) or long-term glucocorticoids (cortisol).
These systems simultaneously influence behaviour and physiology, leading to targeted research of these systems to understand how individuals cope with and adapt to stressors. There are several behavioural measures used to measure stress (e.g. personality traits, syndromes and coping styles) and several physiological measures (e.g. heart rate, respiratory rate, cortisol). <br><br>Using fallow deer as a model species, I aimed to explore the behaviour and physiology of female fallow deer during gestation by performing an in-depth review of their gestational behaviours including vigilance, reactivity by means of FID, completing a validation study of hair cortisol extraction and finally exploring the associations between behaviour and physiology for females.
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I studied the Phoenix Park, Dublin population over 2 gestation periods, studying behaviour throughout gestation inclusive of vigilance and flight distances and collected hair for cortisol extraction. I observed that vigilance and flight distances were consistent personality traits, furthering this I observed correlations between the two measures suggesting a behavioural syndrome. <br><br>When testing hair cortisol I revealed no associations between body locations or pigment with hair cortisol concentrations suggesting a steady measure of cortisol was observed across the body of the deer.
When measuring the behaviour and physiology of females I observed no associations between behaviour and cortisol between vigilance and cortisol, flight distances and cortisol. Finally, I observed no associations between fawn cortisol and maternal cortisol, potentially due to a limited sample size.<br><br>This showcases the necessity and accessibility of studying female animals, whilst factoring in their reproductive status.
As demonstrated by the observed personality traits of vigilance, and FID, the presence of behavioural syndromes where vigilance and FID were correlated and evidence of pregnancy altering the behavioural response (vigilance).Whereby, behaviour and physiology can be used as a tool to understand how an individual responds to and copes with stressors. <br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2027.</i>
Links
Where it is published
- DOI doi.org/10.17034/32640876.v1 ↗
DOI / persistent id · from zivahub uct ac za
Catalogue records · 1
- OAI-PMH record api.figshare.com/v2/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai%3Af… ↗
metadata API · from zivahub uct ac za
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Earth & Environmental Science · Earth & Environmental Science
- Inferred from text
- Heart 75%
Provenance · 3 source records, 9 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZivaHub | oai:figshare.com:article/32640876 | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Deakin Research Online | oai:figshare.com:article/32640876 | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| DMU Figshare | oai:figshare.com:article/32640876 | 13 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| access_level | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[anatomy].local:anatomy:heart | enrichment · zivahub uct ac za | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (75%) |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/description |
| license_text | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/title |