Maximising survival by shifting the daily timing of activity.

ABSTRACT: Maximising survival requires animals to balance the competing demands of maintaining energy balance and avoiding predation. Here, quantitative modelling shows that optimising the daily timing of activity and rest based on the encountered environmental conditions enables small mammals to maximise survival. Our model shows that nocturnality is typically beneficial when predation risk is higher during the day than during the night, but this is reversed by the energetic benefit of diurnality when food becomes scarce. Empirical testing under semi-natural conditions revealed that the daily timing of activity and rest in mice exposed to manipulations in energy availability and perceived predation risk is in line with the model's predictions. Low food availability and decreased perceived daytime p

SUBMITTER: van der Vinne V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6899458 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature