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State dependence of arousal from torpor in brown long‑eared bats (Plecotus auritus)
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

State dependence of arousal from torpor in brown long‑eared bats (Plecotus auritus)

Rune Sørås, Mari Aas Fjelldal, Claus Bech, Jeroen van der Kooij, Karoline H Skåra, Katrine Eldegard and Clare Stawski
Journal of Comparative Physiology B, Vol.192(6), pp.815-827
2022
PMCID: PMC9550697
PMID: 35972527
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State dependence of arousal from torpor in brown long‑eared bats (Plecotus auritus)_1.71 MBDownloadView
Published Version Open Access CC BY V4.0
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-022-01451-8View
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Abstract

respirometry torpor Vespertillionidae Chiroptera temperature body mass
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

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