Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12103
Title: Will Temperature Effects or Phenotypic Plasticity Determine the Thermal Response of a Heterothermic Tropical Bat to Climate Change?
Contributor(s): Stawski, Clare  (author); Geiser, Fritz  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2012
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040278Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12103
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°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.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: PLoS One, 7(7), p. 1-6
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1932-6203
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 060806 Animal Physiological Ecology
060208 Terrestrial Ecology
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 310907 Animal physiological ecology
310308 Terrestrial ecology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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