Gut reaction! Neotropical nectar-feeding bats responses to direct and indirect costs of extreme environmental temperatur
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Gut reaction! Neotropical nectar‑feeding bats responses to direct and indirect costs of extreme environmental temperatures Stephanie Ortega‑García1 · Daniel Ferreyra‑García1 · Jorge E. Schondube1 Received: 27 August 2019 / Revised: 4 May 2020 / Accepted: 18 June 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract One of the consequences of anthropogenic climate change is an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. These events have caused mass mortality of different species of wildlife, including bats. In this study, we exposed two species of neotropical nectar-feeding bats that live in contrasting environmental conditions (A. geoffroyi and L. yerbabuenae) to extreme high and low temperatures while offering them diets with different energy content. This experimental approach allowed us to determine their thermal and behavioral responses, and to identify environmental conditions that impose high physiologic costs to these species. To determine how bats’ responded, we monitored both changes in their body masses and skin temperatures. Both bat species responded differently, with L. yerbabuenae spending more time in normothermia at high temperatures than A. geoffroyi. While both species presented torpor, they used it differently. Torpor allowed A. geoffroyi to maintain and increase body mass at intermediate and low ambient temperatures. At the same time, L. yerbabuenae used torpor only when facing cold ambient temperatures and low-quality food. Understanding the mechanisms that allow species to face changes in their environment is essential given the current climate trends and the fact that the loss of these species could have significant negative consequences in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. Keywords Climate change · Digestive capacity · Extreme climatic event · Glossophaginae · Thermal niche · Torpor Abbreviations Tskin Skin temperature Fiw Feeder initial weight Ffw Feeder final weight Bim Bat initial mass Bfm Bat final mass ∆Bm Change in bat mass
Introduction Climate change is altering the natural systems of our planet (Parmesan and Yohe 2003). In addition to a marked increase in temperature over the last 560 years, human-caused climate Communicated by Noga Kronfeld-Schor. * Jorge E. Schondube [email protected] 1
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701 Col Ex hacienda San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
change has created an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (Easterling et al. 2000). These extreme climatic phenomena, such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and extremely cold weather, among others, are affecting living organisms dramatically in different regions of the planet (Fraser et al. 2014; Gardner et al. 2017; Grant 2017). Extreme climatic events can have direct or indirect effects on wildlife. Direct effects of changes in ambient temperatures include changes in the metabolic co
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