Determining the value of fecal hormones for evaluating sources of stress in wild Otariids, Vancouver, BC, Canada from 2010-2011

This study examined the capacity of cortisol, T3, and T4 hormones to identify periods of nutritional stress in Steller sea lions, and whether fecal hormones provide a reliable alternate sampling matrix. This dataset contains matched blood and fecal samples collected from 4 captive Steller sea lions (during 2010-2011) as they were undergoing controlled diet manipulations, including a period of imposed nutritional stress, at the Marine Mammal Energetics and Nutrition Laboratory (Vancouver, BC, Canada). Measurements of body mass and resting metabolic rate were also collected throughout the 10-week study.

本研究考察了皮质醇（cortisol）、三碘甲状腺原氨酸（T3）与甲状腺素（T4）三种激素在识别斯特勒海狮（Steller sea lions）营养应激阶段的能力，同时验证了粪便激素能否作为可靠的替代采样基质。本数据集包含2010年至2011年间，从4只圈养斯特勒海狮身上采集的配对血液与粪便样本；这些海狮在位于加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华的海洋哺乳动物能量学与营养实验室（Marine Mammal Energetics and Nutrition Laboratory）中接受了可控饮食调整，其中包含一段强制施加的营养应激阶段。整个为期10周的研究过程中，还同步采集了受试个体的体质量与静息代谢率相关测量数据。