Nightly torpor use in response to weather conditions and individual state in an insectivorous bat.

ABSTRACT: Torpor is a well-known energy conservation strategy in many mammal and bird species. It is often employed when environmental conditions are unfavourable to maximize survival probabilities. However, torpor often carries with it the physiological costs of a low body temperature and of rewarming in addition to potential missed opportunities for foraging. Therefore, we hypothesised that decision making regarding when to use torpor should reflect the most important environmental conditions for species distributions, and thus how they may be impacted by ongoing climate change. We investigated how weather conditions affect nightly torpor patterns in the nocturnal insectivorous Australian eastern long-eared bat (Nyctophilus bifax). By measuring the skin temperature of 37 free-ranging individuals,

SUBMITTER: Fjelldal MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8445878 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature