Fluctuating Asymmetry as an Indicator of Environmental Stress From Off-Highway Vehicles

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management Vol. 71; no. 6; pp. 1944 - 1948
• Main Authors: TULL, JOHN C, BRUSSARD, PETER F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK The Wildlife Society 01.08.2007; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal populations; Biodiversity conservation; conservation; Conservation biology; developmental instability; Ecological effects; Ecological genetics; Environment; Environmental conservation; Environmental indicators; Environmental stress; Fences; fluctuating asymmetry; Habitat conservation; human activity; Lacertilia; Lizards; Management; Natural populations; Natural resources; off-highway vehicle; Population; Public lands; recreation; Research s; Sceloporus occidentalis; Vehicles; western fence lizard; Wildlife; Wildlife ecology; Wildlife management; USA, Great Basin; USA
• ISSN: 0022-541X; 1937-2817
• DOI: 10.2193/2006-397

With human activities increasingly impacting natural resources in relatively remote locations, there is a need for simple and efficient methods to explore the ecological consequences of these activities. Little is understood about the influences of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use on wildlife populations. We examined the effect of OHV activity on developmental instability in a phrynosomatid lizard (i.e., western fence lizard [Sceloporus occidentalis]) in the western Great Basin, USA. We measured fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of bilateral head-scale patterns in populations of lizards at 3 OHV and 3 non–OHV sites. Fluctuating asymmetry was higher at OHV sites relative to non-OHV sites, supporting the idea that OHV activity can stress wildlife populations. We found FA to be a good tool for uncovering responses to stress in natural populations, and we recommend exploring FA as a means of uncovering developmental instability in other systems that merit conservation interest