Meeting Abstract
Anthropogenic environmental change such as habitat fragmentation and climate change poses challenges to animal homeostatic functions due to its unpredictable nature. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis release corticosterone (CORT) to help maintain homeostasis, mobilize energy reserves, and promote immediate survival during times of stress. However, chronic exposure to environmental stressors may influence long term changes to animal body condition and thermoregulatory patterns in increasingly harsher habitats. The banner-tailed kangaroo rat is an ecosystem engineer and keystone species in the Chihuahuan desert. Its seed caching strategies and relatively large burrows contribute immensely to soil quality, moisture retainment, and vegetative diversity. Using corticosterone implants to mimic environmental stressors, we pharmacologically stressed banner-tailed kangaroo rats with CORT and control implants to assess changes to their body condition over a two-month period during the summer of 2019. We further measured body temperature, an easily measured proxy of energy expenditure, and body condition of another set of kangaroo rats in relation to pharmacologically induced stress to assess for differences in thermoregulation. Preliminary results suggest marginal differences in heterothermy among animals treated with CORT but no significant differences in fat, lean mass, or water content among treatments. Changes to fat content and lean mass was not significantly affected by treatment however there was a marginally significant interaction between time and fat content.
