INTERDEPENDENCY OF STORED FOOD AND CHANGES IN BODY TEMPERATURE DURING HIBERNATION OF THE EASTERN CHIPMUNK,<i>TAMIAS STRIATUS</i>

French, Alan R.

doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2000)081<0979:iosfac>2.0.co;2

Cited by 38 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Limiting food availability has been found to increase the number and length of torpor bouts in chipmunks (French 2000;Humphries et al 2001Humphries et al , 2003bMunro et al 2005), which could reduce the rate of energy consumption. Chipmunks could also survive longer by using fat stores and protein from muscle tissue (Aunfriev and Arkhipov 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking summer foraging to winter survival in yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus)

Kuhn

Wall

2008

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study links summer foraging and scatter-hoarding to winter larder-hoarding and winter survival in yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus) by comparing patterns of time allocation and winter larder contents in 2 years with very different levels of resource availability. In 2003, seed production and the number of trees and shrubs producing seeds were high. In 2004 seed crops were small. Chipmunks allocated more time to foraging when food resources were scarce (66% in 2004) compared to when they were abundant (39% in 2003). Increased time allocated to foraging in 2004 corresponded to significant decreases in time allocated to vigilance, resting, and social interactions. When seeds were scarce (i.e., in autumn 2004), chipmunks spent more time searching for cached food items than gathering seeds from plants or the ground surface. Despite the increase in foraging effort, the edible mass and caloric contents of larders were significantly smaller in 2004. In the year with low seed production, the diversity of seed species found in larders increased, and many of these seeds were of species that ripened in summer. When autumnal seed production by Jeffrey pine seeds was high, Jeffrey pine seeds were nearly the exclusive food item found in larders. Larder contents would have provisioned chipmunks for an estimated 116-257 days in 2003 and but only 6-111 days in 2004. It is likely that all chipmunks would have survived the winter of 2003 (duration approximately 110-120 days). However, none of the larders recovered in 2004 contained enough food to have provisioned the inhabitant for the approximately148-158 days of winter.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking summer foraging to winter survival in yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus)

Kuhn

Wall

2008

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As predicted by the hibernation optimization hypothesis, food-caching eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus, express shorter and shallower hibernation bouts when food hoards are supplemented (French, 2000;Humphries et al, 2003b). This suggests that the physiological and ecological costs of hibernation are substantial and may be avoided when energetically feasible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Energy availability influences microclimate selection of hibernating bats

Boyles

Dunbar

Storm

et al. 2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

146

122

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARY Many species hibernate to conserve energy during periods of low food and water availability. It has long been assumed that the optimal hibernation strategy involves long, deep bouts of torpor that minimize energy expenditure. However, hibernation has ecological (e.g. decreased predator avoidance) and physiological (e.g. sleep deprivation) costs that must be balanced with energy savings; therefore, individuals possessing sufficient energy reserves may reduce their use of deep torpor. We tested the hypothesis that energy (fat)availability influences temperature selection of two fat-storing bat species during hibernation. We predicted that individuals with small energy reserves would select colder temperatures for hibernation in order to minimize energy expenditure, while individuals with larger energy reserves would choose warmer temperatures to minimize the costs of hibernation. Results from our field experiment indicate that little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus)hibernating in warm microclimates were significantly heavier than individuals hibernating in cooler microclimates. To determine if energy availability was mediating this relationship, we limited fatty acid availability with mercaptoacetate (MA) and quantified its effect on torpid metabolic rate(TMR) and thermal preference of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Administration of MA caused a 43% drop in TMR at 10°C and caused bats to choose significantly colder temperatures for hibernation. Our results suggest that fat-storing bats minimize torpor expression using both physiological and behavioral mechanisms.

show abstract

“…They also cache food and/or accumulate fat to provide reserves of energy in winter [4,5]. These energy resources can be not only large but also quite variable, both between individuals and from year to year for the same individual [6]. Humphries et al [4] predicted a close relationship between energy availability and hibernation, and individuals with large energy reserves have been seen to express less torpor than those with smaller reserves, both in food-hoarding hibernators such as Tamias striatus [6][7][8], and Perognathus inornatus [7] and fatstoring hibernators such as Spermophilus beldingi [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These energy resources can be not only large but also quite variable, both between individuals and from year to year for the same individual [6]. Humphries et al [4] predicted a close relationship between energy availability and hibernation, and individuals with large energy reserves have been seen to express less torpor than those with smaller reserves, both in food-hoarding hibernators such as Tamias striatus [6][7][8], and Perognathus inornatus [7] and fatstoring hibernators such as Spermophilus beldingi [7]. Unlike fatstoring hibernators, food-hoarding hibernators cache energy outside the body and are able to adjust torpor in response to food availability without exhausting these external reserves [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%