Journal article
State dependence of arousal from torpor in brown long‑eared bats (Plecotus auritus)
Journal of Comparative Physiology B, Vol.192(6), pp.815-827
2022
PMCID: PMC9550697
PMID: 35972527
Abstract
To cope with periods of low food availability and unsuitable environmental conditions (e.g., short photoperiod or challenging weather), many heterothermic mammals can readily go into torpor to save energy. However, torpor also entails several potential costs, and quantitative energetics can, therefore, be influenced by the individual state, such as available energy reserves. We studied the thermal energetics of brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus) in the northern part of its distri-butional range, including torpor entry, thermoregulatory ability during torpor and how they responded metabolically to an increasing ambient temperature (T a) during arousal from torpor. Torpor entry occurred later in bats with higher body mass (M b). During torpor, only 10 out of 21 bats increased oxygen consumption (V̇ O 2) to a greater extent above the mean torpor metabolic rates (TMR) when exposed to low T a. The slope of the torpid thermoregulatory curve was shallower than that of resting metabolic rate (RMR) during normothermic conditions, indicating a higher thermal insulation during torpor. During exposure to an increasing T a , all bats increased metabolic rate exponentially, but the bats with higher M b aroused at a lower T a than those with lower M b. In bats with low M b , arousal was postponed to an T a above the lower critical temperature of the thermoneutral zone. Our results demonstrate that physiological traits, which are often considered fixed, can be more flexible than previously assumed and vary with individual state. Thus, future studies of thermal physiology should to a greater extent take individual state-dependent effects into account. Keywords Respirometry · Torpor · Vespertilionidae · Chiroptera · Temperature · Body mass Abbreviations T b Body temperature T a Ambient temperature TMR Torpid metabolic rate TNZ Thermoneutral zone M b Body mass V̇ O 2 Oxygen consumption T set Set temperature BMR Basal metabolic rate RMR Resting metabolic rate T lc Lower critical temperature
Details
- Title
- State dependence of arousal from torpor in brown long‑eared bats (Plecotus auritus)
- Authors
- Rune Sørås (Corresponding Author) - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyMari Aas Fjelldal (Author) - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyClaus Bech (Author) - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyJeroen van der Kooij (Author)Karoline H Skåra (Author) - Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyKatrine Eldegard (Author) - Norwegian University of Life SciencesClare Stawski (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Journal of Comparative Physiology B, Vol.192(6), pp.815-827
- Publisher
- Springer
- Date published
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00360-022-01451-8
- ISSN
- 1432-136X
- PMID
- 35972527; PMC9550697
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Grant note
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology (St. Olavs Hospital -Trondheim University Hospital)
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99665498602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
1 File views/ downloads
60 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Physiology
- Zoology
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: SDGs from InCites