Journal
COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 179, Issue -, Pages 125-132Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.09.035
Keywords
Huddling; Evaporative water loss; Metabolism; Torpor; Hibernation; Chiroptera
Categories
Funding
- European Social Fund [POKL.04.01.01-00-081/10]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Periodic arousals during hibernation consume most of the winter energy budget for hibernating mammals. Evaporative water loss (EWL) is thought to affect the frequency of arousals and thus energy balance, and might have dramatic implications for over-winter survival and fitness. We hypothesized that huddling affects EWL and energy expenditure in torpid mammals. We tested this hypothesis using bats as a model and predicted that, during torpor, EWL and energy expenditure of huddling individuals would be lower than in individuals that are not in a huddle. We measured EWL and metabolic rate of torpid Myotis nattereri (Kuhl, 1817) huddling in groups or roosting individually. Evaporative water loss in huddling individual bats was almost 30% lower than in solitary animals (P = 0.03), even after correcting for the effects of metabolic rate. Our results suggest that conservation of water is a substantial benefit underlying huddling by bats during hibernation. Ultimately, huddling could reduce the total cost of hibernation by reducing the number of expensive periodic arousals from torpor caused by the need to supplement water. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available