Body temperature patterns of big brown bats during winter in a building hibernaculum

Halsall, Amy L.; Boyles, Justin G.; Whitaker, John O.

doi:10.1644/11-mamm-a-262.1

Cited by 32 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…When bats were rewarmed from 7°C after torpor bouts Ͻ24 h, the critical T sub inducing arousal was 19.5°C, which was comparable to that found for N. geoffroyi exposed to a similar T a profile (T sk ϭ 21.4°C) (37) and free ranging Eptesicus fuscus passively rewarmed during the hibernation season (T sk ϭ 17.9°C) (9). At the onset of active arousal there was a doubling of V O 2 when animals rewarmed from both the constant T a and following passive rewarming.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…Many studies of free-ranging bats have shown that T b during torpor fluctuates widely with T a , from ϳ7°C in northern hemisphere bats (9) up to 20°C in Australian vespertilionids (35). Although for most bats passive rewarming is partial and complete arousal includes an active component, recent studies provide evidence that some desert-dwelling bats rewarm entirely passively; using passive rewarming to increase T b by more than 20°C (3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Passive rewarming from torpor in hibernating bats: minimizing metabolic costs and cardiac demands

Currie

Noy

Geiser

2015

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comp

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Endothermic arousal from torpor is an energetically costly process and imposes enormous demands on the cardiovascular system, particularly during early stage arousal from low body temperature (Tb). To minimize these costs many bats and other heterothermic endotherms rewarm passively from torpor using solar radiation or fluctuating ambient temperature (Ta). Because the heart plays a critical role in the arousal process in terms of blood distribution and as a source of heat production, it is desirable to understand how the function of this organ responds to passive rewarming and how this relates to changes in metabolism and Tb. We investigated heart rate (HR) in hibernating long-eared bats (Nyctophilus gouldi) and its relationship to oxygen consumption (V̇o₂) and subcutaneous temperature (Tsub) during exposure to increasing Ta compared with endogenous arousals at constant low Ta. During passive rewarming, HR and V̇o₂ remained low over a large Tsub range and increased concurrently with increasing Ta (Q₁₀ 2.4 and 2.5, respectively). Absolute values were higher than during steady-state torpor but below those measured during torpor entry. During active arousals, mean HR and V̇o₂ were substantially higher than during passive rewarming at corresponding Tsub. In addition, partial passive rewarming reduced the cost of arousal from torpor by 53% compared with entirely active arousal. Our data show that passive rewarming considerably reduces arousal costs and arousal time; we suggest this may also contribute to minimizing exposure to oxidative stresses as well as demands on the cardiovascular system.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Passive rewarming from torpor in hibernating bats: minimizing metabolic costs and cardiac demands

Currie

Noy

Geiser

2015

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comp

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“…The use of radiant heat created by the exposure of building exteriors to sunshine likely saves synanthropic bats significant amounts of energy since they do not depend on endogenous heat production in brown adipose tissue (Geiser and Drury 2003). This could be a selective advantage for bats using sun-exposed buildings instead of dark caves as daytime roosts or hibernacula (Lausen and Barclay 2006;Halsall et al 2012).…”

Section: Relevant Natural History Features Of Synanthropic Batsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hibernating bats may also benefit from thermal advantages in buildings. For example, thermoregulation of E. fuscus hibernating in buildings was more similar to that of tree-dwelling species than to that of cave-hibernating conspecifics (Halsall et al 2012). The authors argued that bats hibernating in buildings may benefit to a larger extent from passive rewarming (Halsall et al 2012), which may lead to massive savings of crucial fat depots (Turbill et al 2003;Geiser and Drury 2003).…”

Section: Reduced Predation Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bats and Buildings: The Conservation of Synanthropic Bats

Voigt

Phelps

Aguirre

et al. 2015

Bats in the Anthropocene: Conservation of Bats in a Changing World

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Humans have shared buildings with bats for thousands of years, probably as early as first humans built primitive huts. Indeed, many bat species can be defined as synanthropic, i.e., they have a strong ecological association with humans. Bats have been observed using buildings as roosting and foraging sites, temporary shelters, for reproduction and hibernation. A synanthropic lifestyle may result in direct fitness benefits owing to energetic advantages in warmer roosts, which may ultimately lead to more rapid gestation and faster development of juveniles, or by being less exposed to natural predators in urban environments. All

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“…Multiple host traits may contribute to the observed differential impacts of WNS across species (Reeder and Moore 2013;Hayman et al 2016). These traits may include body size, length of hibernation period, attributes of hibernacula and microclimate selection (Wilder et al 2011;Halsall et al 2012;Johnson et al 2014;Grieneisen et al 2015), population size and social structure (Wilder et al 2011;Langwig et al 2012;Frick et al 2015), rates of evaporative water loss (Cryan et al 2010;Willis et al 2011;Warnecke et al 2013), sebaceous lipid composition (Frank et al 2016), and microbial communities on skin surfaces Avena et al 2016). When the fungus does successfully infect the host, immune defences likely affect the outcome of infection (Romani 2011;Johnson et al 2015;Field et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy conserving thermoregulatory patterns and lower disease severity in a bat resistant to the impacts of white-nose syndrome

Moore

Field

Behr³

et al. 2017

J Comp Physiol B

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The devastating bat fungal disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS), does not appear to affect all species equally. To experimentally determine susceptibility differences between species, we exposed hibernating naïve little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to the fungus that causes WNS, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). After hibernating under identical conditions, Pd lesions were significantly more prevalent and more severe in little brown myotis. This species difference in pathology correlates with susceptibility to WNS in the wild and suggests that survival is related to different host physiological responses. We observed another fungal infection, associated with neutrophilic inflammation, that was equally present in all bats. This suggests that both species are capable of generating a response to cold tolerant fungi and that Pd may have evolved mechanisms for evading host responses that are effective in at least some bat species. These host-pathogen interactions are likely mediated not just by host physiological responses, but also by host behavior. Pd-exposed big brown bats, the less affected species, spent more time in torpor than did control animals, while little brown myotis did not exhibit this change. This differential thermoregulatory response to Pd infection by big brown bat hosts may allow for a more effective (or less pathological) immune response to tissue invasion.

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Body temperature patterns of big brown bats during winter in a building hibernaculum

Cited by 32 publications

References 44 publications

Passive rewarming from torpor in hibernating bats: minimizing metabolic costs and cardiac demands

Passive rewarming from torpor in hibernating bats: minimizing metabolic costs and cardiac demands

Bats and Buildings: The Conservation of Synanthropic Bats

Energy conserving thermoregulatory patterns and lower disease severity in a bat resistant to the impacts of white-nose syndrome

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