Frequent arousals from winter torpor in Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii).

Autor: Joseph S Johnson, Michael J Lacki, Steven C Thomas, John F Grider
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 11, p e49754 (2012)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049754
Popis: Extensive use of torpor is a common winter survival strategy among bats; however, data comparing various torpor behaviors among species are scarce. Winter torpor behaviors are likely to vary among species with different physiologies and species inhabiting different regional climates. Understanding these differences may be important in identifying differing susceptibilities of species to white-nose syndrome (WNS) in North America. We fitted 24 Rafinesque's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) with temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters, and monitored 128 PIT-tagged big-eared bats, during the winter months of 2010 to 2012. We tested the hypothesis that Rafinesque's big-eared bats use torpor less often than values reported for other North American cave-hibernators. Additionally, we tested the hypothesis that Rafinesque's big-eared bats arouse on winter nights more suitable for nocturnal foraging. Radio-tagged bats used short (2.4 d ± 0.3 (SE)), shallow (13.9°C ± 0.6) torpor bouts and switched roosts every 4.1 d ± 0.6. Probability of arousal from torpor increased linearly with ambient temperature at sunset (P
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