Quantification of the full lifecycle bioenergetics of a large mammal in the high Arctic

Desforges, Jean‐Pierre; Marques, Gonçalo M.; Beumer, Larissa T.; Chimienti, Marianna; Blake, John E.; Rowell, Janice E.; Adamczewski, Jan; Schmidt, Niels Martin; Beest, Floris M. van

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.03.013

Cited by 18 publications

(27 citation statements)

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“…These females had slightly lower T b compared to both wild and captive reproducing females already in late autumn, and thus already exhibited signs of hypothermia. Whilst the reduction in T b was quite small, this may indicate that these females had insufficient body reserves in autumn to support oestrus, likely due to the high energetic costs of lactation for the calf at heel 32 . In muskoxen, lactation does not preclude pregnancy, but appears limited to those in better body condition 18 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Despite our limited sample size, we posit that the link between reproduction and hypothermia as an overwintering strategy may be due to a trade-off between the need to reduce metabolic costs and the need to maintain foetal growth. We advocate that an intimate link between energy reserves and reproductive status may exists, at least in muskox females 32 under severe energetic constraints, which can have subsequent consequences on individual energy balance and ultimately population dynamics. While our study has provided the first indications of such a relationship in a wild, large herbivorous mammal, we emphasise that more studies on the linkage between animal T b , metabolism and pregnancy, particularly from highly seasonal environments, are needed to further support our claims.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

Schmidt

Grøndahl

Evans

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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For free-ranging animals living in seasonal environments, hypometabolism (lowered metabolic rate) and hypothermia (lowered body temperature) can be effective physiological strategies to conserve energy when forage resources are low. to what extent such strategies are adopted by large mammals living under extreme conditions, as those encountered in the high Arctic, is largely unknown, especially for species where the gestation period overlaps with the period of lowest resource availability (i.e. winter). Here we investigated for the first time the level to which high arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) adopt hypothermia and tested the hypothesis that individual plasticity in the use of hypothermia depends on reproductive status. We measured core body temperature over most of the gestation period in both free-ranging muskox females in Greenland and captive female muskoxen in Alaska. We found divergent overwintering strategies according to reproductive status, where pregnant females maintained stable body temperatures during winter, while non-pregnant females exhibited a temporary decrease in their winter body temperature. these results show that muskox females use hypothermia during periods of resource scarcity, but also that the use of this strategy may be limited to non-reproducing females. Our findings suggest a trade-off between metabolically-driven energy conservation during winter and sustaining foetal growth, which may also apply to other large herbivores living in highly seasonal environments elsewhere.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

Schmidt

Grøndahl

Evans

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…A schematic representation of the DEB model is shown in Figure 1b, and the model is fully described in Appendix and general aspects previously reported in Desforges et al. (2019). The model was implemented in NetLogo (version 6.0.2, 4 August 2017) and results analyzed and illustrated in R (R Core Team, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

T_{REF}

is a reference temperature, commonly set to room temperature (293.15 K). The

T_{Ar}

of muskoxen in unknown; thus, we use the standard value in DEB theory that was used in the original calibration of the model (Desforges et al., 2019). A sensitivity analysis showed that changes in this value resulted in absolute changes in values (e.g., body mass, reserves), but did not affect the differences between metabolic groups (i.e., normotherm vs. heterotherm) (Figure 6 in Appendix ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying energetic and fitness consequences of seasonal heterothermy in an Arctic ungulate

Desforges

Beest

Marques

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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In the wild, animals often need to contend with variable and harsh environmental conditions. This is particularly true for seasonal and unpredictable environments, where climatic conditions can change drastically over the course of the year. Seasonal changes in external conditions, especially ambient temperature and food availability, have important consequences for endotherms as they use energy to maintain high and stable body temperatures for optimal physiological function (Angilletta et al.

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Sequential analysis of δ¹⁵N in guard hair suggests late gestation is the most critical period for muskox calf recruitment

Schmidt

Michelsen

Hansen

et al. 2023

Rapid Comm Mass Spectrometry

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Rationale Analysis of stable isotopes in tissue and excreta may provide information about animal diets and their nutritional state. As body condition may have a major influence on reproduction, linking stable isotope values to animal demographic rates may help unravel the drivers behind animal population dynamics. Methods We performed sequential analysis of δ15N values in guard hair from 21 muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) from Zackenberg in high arctic Greenland. We were able to reconstruct the dietary history for the population over a 5‐year period with contrasting environmental conditions. We examined the linkage between guard hair δ15N values in 12 three‐month periods and muskox calf recruitment to detect critical periods for muskox reproduction. Finally, we conducted similar analyses of the correlation between environmental conditions (snow depth and air temperature) and calf recruitment. Results δ15N values exhibited a clear seasonal pattern with high levels in summer and low levels in winter. However, large inter‐annual variation was found in winter values, suggesting varying levels of catabolism depending on snow conditions. In particular δ15N values during January–March were linked to muskox recruitment rates, with higher values coinciding with lower calf recruitment. δ15N values were a better predictor of muskox recruitment rates than environmental conditions. Conclusions Although environmental conditions may ultimately determine the dietary δ15N signal in muskox guard hairs, muskox calf recruitment was more strongly correlated with δ15N values than ambient snow and temperature. The period January–March, corresponding to late gestation, appears particularly critical for muskox reproduction.

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Quantification of the full lifecycle bioenergetics of a large mammal in the high Arctic

Cited by 18 publications

References 50 publications

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

Quantifying energetic and fitness consequences of seasonal heterothermy in an Arctic ungulate

Sequential analysis of δ¹⁵N in guard hair suggests late gestation is the most critical period for muskox calf recruitment

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Quantification of the full lifecycle bioenergetics of a large mammal in the high Arctic

Cited by 18 publications

References 50 publications

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate

Quantifying energetic and fitness consequences of seasonal heterothermy in an Arctic ungulate

Sequential analysis of δ15N in guard hair suggests late gestation is the most critical period for muskox calf recruitment

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Product

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Sequential analysis of δ¹⁵N in guard hair suggests late gestation is the most critical period for muskox calf recruitment