Can hibernators sense and evade fires? Olfactory acuity and locomotor performance during deep torpor

Title
Can hibernators sense and evade fires? Olfactory acuity and locomotor performance during deep torpor
Publication Date
2016
Author(s)
Nowack, Julia
Delesalle, Marine
Stawski, Clare
Geiser, Fritz
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7621-5049
Email: fgeiser@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:fgeiser
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Springer
Place of publication
Germany
DOI
10.1007/s00114-016-1396-6
UNE publication id
une:20249
Abstract
Increased habitat fragmentation, global warming and other human activities have caused a rise in the frequency of wildfires worldwide. To reduce the risks of uncontrollable fires, prescribed burns are generally conducted during the colder months of the year, a time when in many mammals torpor is expressed regularly. Torpor is crucial for energy conservation, but the low body temperatures (Tb) are associated with a decreased responsiveness and torpid animals might therefore face an increased mortality risk during fires. We tested whether hibernators in deep torpor (a) can respond to the smell of smoke and (b) can climb to avoid fires at Tbs below normothermic levels.Our data show that torpid eastern pygmy-possums ('Cercartetus nanus') are able to detect smoke and also can climb. All males aroused from torpor when the smoke stimulus was presented at an ambient temperature (Ta) of 15 °C (Tb ~18 °C), whereas females only raised their heads. The responses were less pronounced at Tₐ 10 °C. The first coordinated movement of possums along a branch was observed at a mean Tb of 15.6 °C, and animals were even able to climb their prehensile tail when they reached a mean Tb of 24.4 °C. Our study shows that hibernators can sense smoke and move at low Tb. However, our data also illustrate that at Tb ≤13 °C, 'C. nanus' show decreased responsiveness and locomotor performance and highlight that prescribed burns during winter should be avoided on very cold days to allow torpid animals enough time to respond.
Link
Citation
Naturwissenschaften, 103(9-10), p. 1-7
ISSN
1432-1904
0028-1042
Start page
1
End page
7

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