Migration and reproduction are associated with similar degrees of phenotypic flexibility in an insectivorous bat

Sommers, Amie S.; Rogers, Elizabeth J.; McGuire, L.

doi:10.1007/s00442-019-04449-2

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Evaluating changes to fuel loads provides important insights into seasonal energy allocation strategies of bats. Our study comports with others showing that preparation for winter is demanding for temperate-zone bats, whether their overwintering strategy involves hibernation or migration (Sommers et al 2019). It also highlights that, even in areas with relatively mild winters, autumn represents a critical period in the annual cycle for temperate-zone bats.…”

Section: Hypothesis Prediction Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Following winter, females generally increase their body mass faster than males to prepare for gestation and migrations to natal grounds (Dechmann et al 2014; Rughetti and Toffoli 2014). Lactation is the most energetically expensive portion of the active season (Kurta et al 1989) and female body mass often decreases during this period in mid-summer (Rughetti and Toffoli 2014; Sommers et al 2019; Pretorius et al 2021). However, body condition usually increases soon thereafter to support the high energetic demands of autumn migration or hibernation (Rughetti and Toffoli 2014; Lacki et al 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, body condition usually increases soon thereafter to support the high energetic demands of autumn migration or hibernation (Rughetti and Toffoli 2014; Lacki et al 2015). For example, body mass of migratory Tadarida brasiliensis was as high during migration as it was during late pregnancy (Sommers et al 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Rates of seasonal fuel loading do not differ by sex or overwintering strategy in three species of bats

Weller,

Clerc,

Lau

et al. 2023

Journal of Mammalogy

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For temperate-zone mammals, seasonal changes in weather and food availability often govern energy allocation. In addition, energy allocation strategies usually differ between males and females. Bats are an interesting group in which to evaluate energetic trade-offs as they are highly mobile and lead energetically demanding lives in habitats across a variety of seasonally variable climates. We evaluated year-round changes in body mass and fuel load for three species of bats in northern California: Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), California Myotis (Myotis californicus), and Yuma Myotis (Myotis yumanensis). Silver-haired bats are considered migratory species with females likely migrating farther than males. The two species of myotis are considered residents. Body mass of all species peaked in late autumn and was at a minimum during spring. We calculated a fuel load index to normalize size difference between species and sexes. We used sex- and season-specific multiple linear regression models to evaluate rates of change in seasonal fuel loading. Rates of change in fuel load did not differ among species or sexes except for male silver-haired bats that increased fuel loads rapidly during summer. Interspecific comparisons provided valuable insights into the energy allocation and overwintering strategies of these species and are an important initial step toward understanding their ecology over the full annual cycle.

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Section: Hypothesis Prediction Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

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confidence: 99%

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Rates of seasonal fuel loading do not differ by sex or overwintering strategy in three species of bats

Weller,

Clerc,

Lau

et al. 2023

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…Even though (insectivorous) bats generally live energetically demanding lives, both migration and reproduction (i.e. late pregnancy and lactation) periods are even more energetically demanding (Sommers et al., 2019). Choosing favourable wind conditions for migration is a simple effective mechanism to save energy during movement and arrive in good body condition at the maternity grounds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic drivers of (changes in) bat migration phenology at Bracken Cave (USA)

Haest

Stepanian

Wainwright

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Climate change is drastically changing the timing of biological events across the globe. Changes in the phenology of seasonal migrations between the breeding and wintering grounds have been observed across biological taxa, including birds, mammals, and insects. For birds, strong links have been shown between changes in migration phenology and changes in weather conditions at the wintering, stopover, and breeding areas. For other animal taxa, the current understanding of, and evidence for, climate (change) influences on migration still remains rather limited, mainly due to the lack of long‐term phenology datasets. Bracken Cave in Texas (USA) holds one of the largest bat colonies of the world. Using weather radar data, a unique 23‐year (1995–2017) long time series was recently produced of the spring and autumn migration phenology of Brazilian free‐tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) at Bracken Cave. Here, we analyse these migration phenology time series in combination with gridded temperature, precipitation, and wind data across Mexico and southern USA, to identify the climatic drivers of (changes in) bat migration phenology. Perhaps surprisingly, our extensive spatiotemporal search did not find temperature to influence either spring or autumn migration. Instead, spring migration phenology seems to be predominantly driven by wind conditions at likely wintering or spring stopover areas during the migration period. Autumn migration phenology, on the other hand, seems to be dominated by precipitation to the east and north‐east of Bracken Cave. Long‐term changes towards more frequent migration and favourable wind conditions have, furthermore, allowed spring migration to occur 16 days earlier. Our results illustrate how some of the remaining knowledge gaps on the influence of climate (change) on bat migration and abundance can be addressed using weather radar analyses.

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“…To estimate the severity of resource limitation in the period in which bats are most resource-limited, we averaged minimum temperatures across the months of September, October, April, and May, which roughly represent night-time temperatures during the times of year when bats tend to be most energetically vulnerable. Regardless of whether they hibernate or migrate for the winter, bats at temperate latitudes must gain a substantial amount of weight in the autumn (Kunz et al 1998;Lacki et al 2015;Guglielmo 2018;Cheng et al 2019;Sommers et al 2019), and they tend to be energetically stressed in the early spring before insects become abundant (Arlettaz et al 2001;Encarnação et al 2004;Jonasson & Guglielmo 2019). Daily minimum temperatures during autumn and spring thus represent a biologically informed proxy for resource limitation.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental drivers of body size in North American bats

Alston

Keinath

Willis

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Bergmann's Rule--which posits that larger animals live in colder areas--is thought to influence variation in body size within species across space and time, but evidence for this claim is mixed. We tested four competing hypotheses for spatio-temporal variation in body size within bat species during the past two decades across North America. Bayesian hierarchical models revealed that spatial variation in body mass was most strongly (and negatively) correlated with mean annual temperature, supporting the heat conservation hypothesis (historically believed to underlie Bergmann's Rule). Across time, variation in body mass was most strongly (and positively) correlated with net primary productivity, supporting the resource availability hypothesis. Climate change could influence body size in animals through both changes in mean annual temperature and in resource availability. Rapid reductions in body size associated with increasing temperatures have occurred in short-lived, fecund species, but such reductions likely transpire more slowly in longer-lived species.

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Migration and reproduction are associated with similar degrees of phenotypic flexibility in an insectivorous bat

Cited by 6 publications

References 51 publications

Rates of seasonal fuel loading do not differ by sex or overwintering strategy in three species of bats

Rates of seasonal fuel loading do not differ by sex or overwintering strategy in three species of bats

Climatic drivers of (changes in) bat migration phenology at Bracken Cave (USA)

Environmental drivers of body size in North American bats

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