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The behavioral trade-off between thermoregulation and foraging in a heat-sensitive species

Mason, Tom H.E.; Brivio, Francesca; Stephens, Philip A.; Apollonio, Marco; Grignolio, Stefano

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Authors

Tom H.E. Mason

Francesca Brivio

Marco Apollonio

Stefano Grignolio



Abstract

The range-shifts of many species are lagging behind climate change, meaning that those species are likely to experience increases in average ambient temperature. Heat-sensitive species may experience increasingly precarious trade-offs between investment in thermoregulation versus other key processes as the climate warms. We investigated the potential for trade-offs to exist between behavioral thermoregulation and foraging, studying a typical heat-sensitive endotherm: the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Ibex use higher altitudes when it is hotter, which could restrict them from more profitable foraging areas at lower altitudes. We investigated this potential trade-off using data on the altitude-use and activity budgets of 43 marked males collected during the vegetation growing season in Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy. We used structural equation modeling to assess the support for models linking ambient temperature, altitude-use, vegetation productivity, and foraging time. Ibex migrated to higher altitudes during spring and summer, maintaining their ambient temperature within a very narrow band. Consequently, when it was warmer ibex utilized areas that were less productive, as indicated by lower normalized difference vegetation indices, and consumed lower quality forage, as indicated by lower levels of fecal crude protein. Ibex did not compensate behaviorally for reduced forage productivity by adjusting their foraging effort. We identify a trade-off between thermoregulation and foraging in ibex, which could affect this species negatively in the future. Such trade-offs could be a general phenomenon for heat-sensitive species. Our study reveals that behavioral thermoregulation can exert a strong influence on animal distributions, even overriding resource productivity in importance.

Citation

Mason, T. H., Brivio, F., Stephens, P. A., Apollonio, M., & Grignolio, S. (2017). The behavioral trade-off between thermoregulation and foraging in a heat-sensitive species. Behavioral Ecology, 28(3), 908-918. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx057

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 15, 2017
Online Publication Date Apr 7, 2017
Publication Date May 1, 2017
Deposit Date Apr 11, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Behavioral Ecology
Print ISSN 1045-2249
Electronic ISSN 1465-7279
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 28
Issue 3
Pages 908-918
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx057

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Copyright Statement
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Behavioral Ecology following peer review. The version of record Tom H.E. Mason, Francesca Brivio, Philip A. Stephens, Marco Apollonio, Stefano Grignolio (2017) The behavioral trade-off between thermoregulation and foraging in a heat-sensitive species. Behavioral ecology, 28(3): 908-918 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arx057.





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