Torpor, arousal and activity of hibernating Greater Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)
By Kirsty J. Park, Gareth J. F. Jones, R. Ransome. 2000
170 citations recorded by the source corpus.
1. Patterns of torpor, arousal and activity in free-living Greater Horseshoe Bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber), were investigated during the hibernation period by using temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters. 2. Torpor bouts varied between 0·1 and 11·8 days, with individual means ranging from 1·3 to 7·4 days. Torpor bout duration decreased with increasing ambient temperature. 3. Activity duration varied from 37 min to 54 h 24 min, with individual means ranging from 2 : 29 to 8 : 58 h. Activity duration increased with ambient temperatures above approximately 10 °C. 4. Ten of 11 bats synchronized their arousals with dusk. The circadian rhythm of one bat showed a free-running pattern over a period of about 5 weeks. Arousals were more highly synchronized, and closer to dusk, in individuals with lower body condition. 5. That bats forage in mild weather is supported by the strong synchronization of arousals with dusk, especially in bats with low body condition. 6. Patterns of torpor and subsequent activity are consistent with predictions that torpor lasts until a critical metabolic or water imbalance is achieved. Because metabolism and water loss are temperature-dependent, torpor bout duration decreases with increasing temperature. The imbalance is corrected during subsequent activity, which is relatively constant in duration until a temperature threshold of 10 °C, above which increasing levels of foraging lead to longer activity bouts.
Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Paleontology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/07dd45b1b0cf5dec0871afca6070842f20182b41
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Citations in the corpus
- Summer torpor in a free-ranging bat from subtropical Australia (2003, background): “As insect prey availability is much reduced at low Ta (Hickey and Fenton, 1996), temperate-zone microbats enter extended bouts of torpor and hibernate throughout winter (e.g. Park et al., 2000).”
- Activity following arousal in winter in North American vespertilionid bats (2006, background): “…in treeand foliage-hibernating species (Boyles & Robbins, 2006; Mormann & Robbins, in press) than in cave-hibernating species (Brack & Twente, 1985), although studies of cavernicolous species constantly measuring body temperature report relatively short torpor bouts as well (Park et al., 2000).”
- The impact and implications of climate change for bats (2013, background): “Intermittent arousals in hibernating bats may occur to allow drinking (Speakman & Racey 1989, Thomas & Geiser 1997), mating (Berková & Zukal 2010) and urinating (Park et al. 2000).”
- AROUSAL PATTERNS, METABOLIC RATE, AND AN ENERGY BUDGET OF EASTERN RED BATS (LASIURUS BOREALIS) IN WINTER (2006, background): “Although important when predicting the duration and timing of arousals, foraging is not likely the primary function of arousals (Park et al. 2000).”
- The importance of temporal heterothermy in bats (2014, background): “Similarly, temperate R. ferrumequinum foraged during winter only when body condition was poor; fat bats remained in hibernation (Park et al., 2000).”
- Using multi-scale modelling to predict habitat suitability for species of conservation concern: The grey long-eared bat as a case study (2011, background): “Insectivorous bats in the UK arouse frequently from winter hibernation to feed when higher outside temperatures signal increased food availability (Hays et al., 1992; Park et al., 2000).”