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Will Temperature Effects or Phenotypic Plasticity Determine the Thermal Response of a Heterothermic Tropical Bat to Climate Change327.86 kB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Will Temperature Effects or Phenotypic Plasticity Determine the Thermal Response of a Heterothermic Tropical Bat to Climate Change?
PLoS One, Vol.7(7), pp.1-6
2012
PMCID: PMC3389006
PMID: 22802959
Abstract
The proportion of organisms exposed to warm conditions is predicted to increase during global warming. To better understand how bats might respond to climate change, we aimed to obtain the first data on how use of torpor, a crucial survival strategy of small bats, is affected by temperature in the tropics. Over two mild winters, tropical free-ranging bats (Nyctophilus bifax, 10 g, n = 13) used torpor on 95% of study days and were torpid for 33.5+/-18.8% of 113 days measured. Torpor duration was temperature-dependent and an increase in ambient temperature by the predicted 2 degrees C for the 21st century would decrease the time in torpor to 21.8%. However, comparisons among Nyctophilus populations show that regional phenotypic plasticity attenuates temperature effects on torpor patterns. Our data suggest that heterothermy is important for energy budgeting of bats even under warm conditions and that flexible torpor use will enhance bats' chance of survival during climate change.
Details
- Title
- Will Temperature Effects or Phenotypic Plasticity Determine the Thermal Response of a Heterothermic Tropical Bat to Climate Change?
- Authors
- Clare Stawski (Corresponding Author) - University of New EnglandFritz Geiser (Author) - University of New England
- Publication details
- PLoS One, Vol.7(7), pp.1-6
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0040278
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- PMID
- 22802959; PMC3389006
- Copyright note
- Copyright: © 2012 Stawski, Geiser. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Grant note
- Bat Conservation International University of New England Australian Research Council Australian Postgraduate Award; Australian Government Jagiellonian University
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99678997802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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