Anthropogenic Stressors and their Effects on Wildlife Health

Abstract

The pace of anthropogenic activities has been increasing more intensively than ever before in the last century, causing fundamental changes to the natural ecosystems and creating the threat of considerable impact on the health of wildlife worldwide. The industrialization, urban growth, agricultural intensification and climate change have brought the broad range of chemical, physical, biological and socio-ecological stressors, which interfere with the physiological, immunological and behavioral processes of the animals. These stress factors do not only negatively affect individual health and survival but also have effects on population relationship, biodiversity stability and ecosystem resilience. There has been growing evidence that persistent exposure to anthropogenic stressors suppresses immune resilience, disturbs endocrine signaling, causes genetic and epigenetic modifications and predisposes to infectious and zoonotic diseases. This review summarizes existing information on key groups of man-made stressors and clarifies how they operate at the mechanistic level to influence the health of wildlife. Moreover, it indicates species-specific susceptibility, interactions of various stressors, and the new methods of wildlife health surveillance. This review emphasizes the importance of conducting multidisciplinary studies and successful conservation plans to avert anthropogenic effects and protect the health of wildlife in rapidly evolving habitats by combining ecological, physiological, and One Health approaches.

Keywords: Anthropogenic stressors, Wildlife health, Environmental pollution, Physiological stress responses, Immune dysfunction, Biodiversity loss, Ecosystem health, One Health approaches.