Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations

Abstract Environmental and biotic pressures impose homeostatic costs on all organisms. The energetic costs of maintaining high body temperatures (T b) render endotherms sensitive to pressures that increase foraging costs. In response, some mammals become more heterothermic to conserve energy. We mea...

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Autores principales:	Javier Omar Morales, Nikki Walker, Robin W. Warne, Justin G. Boyles
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/fe8a22470e4243208d13507a130b8c70
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:fe8a22470e4243208d13507a130b8c702021-12-02T17:27:03ZHeterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations10.1038/s41598-021-96828-02045-2322https://doaj.org/article/fe8a22470e4243208d13507a130b8c702021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96828-0https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Environmental and biotic pressures impose homeostatic costs on all organisms. The energetic costs of maintaining high body temperatures (T b) render endotherms sensitive to pressures that increase foraging costs. In response, some mammals become more heterothermic to conserve energy. We measured T b in banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) to test and disentangle the effects of air temperature and moonlight (a proxy for predation risk) on thermoregulatory homeostasis. We further perturbed homeostasis in some animals with chronic corticosterone (CORT) via silastic implants. Heterothermy increased across summer, consistent with the predicted effect of lunar illumination (and predation), and in the direction opposite to the predicted effect of environmental temperatures. The effect of lunar illumination was also evident within nights as animals maintained low T b when the moon was above the horizon. The pattern was accentuated in CORT-treated animals, suggesting they adopted an even further heightened risk-avoidance strategy that might impose reduced foraging and energy intake. Still, CORT-treatment did not affect body condition over the entire study, indicating kangaroo rats offset decreases in energy intake through energy savings associated with heterothermy. Environmental conditions receive the most attention in studies of thermoregulatory homeostasis, but we demonstrated here that biotic factors can be more important and should be considered in future studies.Javier Omar MoralesNikki WalkerRobin W. WarneJustin G. BoylesNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Javier Omar Morales Nikki Walker Robin W. Warne Justin G. Boyles Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
description	Abstract Environmental and biotic pressures impose homeostatic costs on all organisms. The energetic costs of maintaining high body temperatures (T b) render endotherms sensitive to pressures that increase foraging costs. In response, some mammals become more heterothermic to conserve energy. We measured T b in banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) to test and disentangle the effects of air temperature and moonlight (a proxy for predation risk) on thermoregulatory homeostasis. We further perturbed homeostasis in some animals with chronic corticosterone (CORT) via silastic implants. Heterothermy increased across summer, consistent with the predicted effect of lunar illumination (and predation), and in the direction opposite to the predicted effect of environmental temperatures. The effect of lunar illumination was also evident within nights as animals maintained low T b when the moon was above the horizon. The pattern was accentuated in CORT-treated animals, suggesting they adopted an even further heightened risk-avoidance strategy that might impose reduced foraging and energy intake. Still, CORT-treatment did not affect body condition over the entire study, indicating kangaroo rats offset decreases in energy intake through energy savings associated with heterothermy. Environmental conditions receive the most attention in studies of thermoregulatory homeostasis, but we demonstrated here that biotic factors can be more important and should be considered in future studies.
format	article
author	Javier Omar Morales Nikki Walker Robin W. Warne Justin G. Boyles
author_facet	Javier Omar Morales Nikki Walker Robin W. Warne Justin G. Boyles
author_sort	Javier Omar Morales
title	Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
title_short	Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
title_full	Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
title_fullStr	Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
title_full_unstemmed	Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
title_sort	heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/fe8a22470e4243208d13507a130b8c70
work_keys_str_mv	AT javieromarmorales heterothermyasamechanismtooffsetenergeticcostsofenvironmentalandhomeostaticperturbations AT nikkiwalker heterothermyasamechanismtooffsetenergeticcostsofenvironmentalandhomeostaticperturbations AT robinwwarne heterothermyasamechanismtooffsetenergeticcostsofenvironmentalandhomeostaticperturbations AT justingboyles heterothermyasamechanismtooffsetenergeticcostsofenvironmentalandhomeostaticperturbations
_version_	1718380828360179712

Heterothermy as a mechanism to offset energetic costs of environmental and homeostatic perturbations

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