Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19853
Title: Phenotypic plasticity of post-fire activity and thermal biology of a free-ranging small mammal
Contributor(s): Stawski, Clare  (author); Koertner, Gerhard  (author)orcid ; Nowack, Julia  (author); Geiser, Fritz  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.009
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19853
Abstract: Ecosystems can change rapidly and sometimes irreversibly due to a number of anthropogenic and natural factors, such as deforestation and fire. How individual animals exposed to such changes respond behaviourally and physiologically is poorly understood. We quantified the phenotypic plasticity of activity patterns and torpor use - a highly efficient energy conservation mechanism - in brown antechinus ('Antechinus stuartii'), a small Australian marsupial mammal. We compared groups in densely vegetated forest areas (pre-fire and control) with a group in a burned, open habitat (post-fire). Activity and torpor patterns differed among groups and sexes. Females in the post-fire group spent significantly less time active than the other groups, both during the day and night. However, in males only daytime activity declined in the post-fire group, although overall activity was also reduced on cold days in males for all groups. The reduction in total or diurnal activity in the post-fire group was made energetically possible by a ~3.4-fold and ~2.2-fold increase in the proportion of time females and males, respectively, used torpor in comparison to that in the pre-fire and control groups. Overall, likely due to reproductive needs, torpor was more pronounced in females than in males, but low ambient temperatures increased torpor bout duration in both sexes. Importantly, for both male and female antechinus and likely other small mammals, predator avoidance and energy conservation - achieved by reduced activity and increased torpor use - appear to be vital for post-fire survival where ground cover and refuges have been obliterated.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Grant Details: ARC/DP130101506
Source of Publication: Physiology & Behavior, v.159, p. 104-111
Publisher: Elsevier Inc
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1873-507X
0031-9384
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

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