Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19851
Title: | The importance of mammalian torpor for survival in a post-fire landscape | Contributor(s): | Stawski, Clare (author); Koertner, Gerhard (author) ; Nowack, Julia (author); Geiser, Fritz (author) | Publication Date: | 2015 | Open Access: | Yes | DOI: | 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0134 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19851 | Abstract: | Wildfires have increased in frequency and intensity worldwide with climate change as a main driving factor. While a number of studies have focused on population changes in regard to fires, there are essentially no quantitative data on behavioural and physiological adjustments that are vital for the persistence of individuals during and after fires. Here we show that brown antechinus, a small insectivorous marsupial mammal, (i) endured a prescribed fire in situ , (ii) remained in their scorched home range despite unburned areas nearby, and (iii) substantially increased post-fire torpor use and thus reduced foraging requirements and exposure to predators. Hence, torpor is a physiological adaptation that, although not quantified in this context previously, appears to play a key role in post-fire survival for this and other heterothermic species. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Grant Details: | ARC/DP130101506 | Source of Publication: | Biology Letters, 11(6), p. 1-5 | Publisher: | The Royal Society Publishing | Place of Publication: | United Kingdom | ISSN: | 1744-957X 1744-9561 |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 060806 Animal Physiological Ecology | Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 310907 Animal physiological 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 |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format |
---|
SCOPUSTM
Citations
65
checked on Dec 21, 2024
Page view(s)
1,316
checked on May 19, 2024
Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.