The effects of maternal stress on offspring survival in the fallow deer

"The impact of climate change and human-induced habitat fragmentation has resulted in an unprecedented planet-wide biodiversity crisis. Thus, it is crucial to understand the conditions which influence the survival of vulnerable individuals. Many different factors promote survival: for example, differences between an individual's physical characteristics (e.g. body mass), the amount of parental care received, and changes in prevailing environmental conditions such as predator density and weather influence survival probability. However, these factors explain only a limited proportion of observed mortality patterns, thus, our understanding of why some individuals die, particularly within juvenile cohorts when mortality rates are among the highest, is incomplete [e.g. Tosa et al. 2018].
Stress is associated with an increased risk of mortality, and there is considerable evidence of a link between maternal stress during pregnancy and early-life mortality in offspring (Entringer et al. 2011). Accumulating evidence indicates that the developing foetus responds to conditions experienced by the mother, and that exposure to stress may have life-limiting effects. Using the fallow deer as the model species, the objective of this project will be to investigate the association between maternal behaviour and stress and that of juvenile behaviour and mortality.
The student will collect behavioural and environmental data from individually identifiable female fallow deer resident in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Fawns are tagged annually in June and a 30% mortality rate is experienced in the first year. The student will observe pregnant females from mating to birth, recording feeding/resting rates, vigilance behaviour, human/dog contact and weather conditions. Estimates of long-term chronic maternal stress will be determined through cortisol levels present in hair samples (Koren et al. 2019). It will therefore be possible to estimate the extent to which maternal stress during foetal development predicts fawn survival.
The student will be trained in a variety of different methodologies relating to the collection of behavioural data in the field. In addition, they will be trained in the capture, handling and measurement of deer fawns. They will also receive training in the extraction of hormones from hair samples. The project will involve modelling and full training in the application and use of statistical models relating to behaviour and hormones, and the modelling of population dynamics will be provided."