Human Disturbance and the Physiological Response of Elk in Eastern Washington

Stress hormone measures have proven useful for assessing effects of human disturbance on wildlife populations. However, most studies are of short duration or limited geographic scope (i.e., without spatial replication), leading to concerns about confounding effects of biotic conditions. Previous research correlated fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) of elk (Cervus elaphus) with human disturbance, but this factor also co-varied with seasonal climatic conditions, making it difficult to make broader inference regarding the role of human disturbance. In this study we attempted to simultaneously evaluate the effects of climatic conditions and human disturbance by comparing the year-round physiological stress response of elk to varying levels of human disturbance at three study sites in south-central Washington State. FGMs were consistently elevated throughout the year at the study site receiving the greatest amount of human disturbance. We observed support for a positive effect of precipitation and increasing temperature on FGMs at the low-disturbance site, but less support for importance of climatic variables in explaining FGMs at the high-disturbance sites – suggesting that climatic variables were likely of secondary importance compared to anthropogenic stressors in elk at those sites. Collectively, while we were unable to disentangle the effects of site-specific stressors, our findings suggest that in this environment, humans were a dominant stressor influencing FGM levels. Therefore, interpreting results of physiological studies requires that researchers account for a broad combination of biotic and abiotic stressors at a particular study location. We particularly encourage future investigators to account for the potential confounding effect of human disturbance that could override other stressors