A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus

We present an analysis of time and energy allocation in a day-active caviomorph rodent, the degu, Octodon degus, in central Chile. We quantified components of surface activity in the field on a daily basis in individual degus near the time of the summer solstice, when conditions of heat and aridity...

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Autores principales:	Kenagy,G.J., Vásquez,Rodrigo A., Nespolo,Roberto F., Bozinovic,Francisco
Lenguaje:	English
Publicado:	Sociedad de Biología de Chile 2002
Materias:	time energy activity central Chile
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2002000100014
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spelling	oai:scielo:S0716-078X20020001000142002-06-14A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degusKenagy,G.J.Vásquez,Rodrigo A.Nespolo,Roberto F.Bozinovic,Francisco time energy activity central Chile We present an analysis of time and energy allocation in a day-active caviomorph rodent, the degu, Octodon degus, in central Chile. We quantified components of surface activity in the field on a daily basis in individual degus near the time of the summer solstice, when conditions of heat and aridity were also at a seasonal extreme, in order to answer the following questions. Does the absolute time available for surface activity limit performance? Does the allocation of time and energy for locomotion place a functionally significant limitation on overall energy balance and performance? Degus spent about 2/3 of their above-ground time foraging; they remained stationary about 88 % of the time, walked around slowly about 10 %, and were running rapidly from one point to another only about 2 % of the time. Net locomotion costs (for walking and running combined) were computed to be only 2.2 % of total daily energy expenditure. This low net allocation of time and energy to locomotion, taken together with abundant distribution of plant food over the extremely small home range, suggests that the daily performance of degus is not limited by the absolute amount of time available under normal conditions at the summer solstice (seasonal extreme of day length, heat, and aridity). Total energy demands can be met by as little as 4.5 h surface activity per day. Our empirical observations, together with a simple computational model of time and energy expenditure, provide a useful validation of the impact of activity on the overall energy balance of a free-living rodent. The small impact of locomotion on the total energy budget is an economy of the behavior of these animals, and the rapid mode of locomotion allows them to minimize predation risks. We believe that this kind of quantitative analysis of energy expenditure associated with behavior in the field can contribute a useful basis for theoretically based time-energy modelinginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSociedad de Biología de ChileRevista chilena de historia natural v.75 n.1 20022002-03-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2002000100014en10.4067/S0716-078X2002000100014
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	English
topic	time energy activity central Chile
spellingShingle	time energy activity central Chile Kenagy,G.J. Vásquez,Rodrigo A. Nespolo,Roberto F. Bozinovic,Francisco A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus
description	We present an analysis of time and energy allocation in a day-active caviomorph rodent, the degu, Octodon degus, in central Chile. We quantified components of surface activity in the field on a daily basis in individual degus near the time of the summer solstice, when conditions of heat and aridity were also at a seasonal extreme, in order to answer the following questions. Does the absolute time available for surface activity limit performance? Does the allocation of time and energy for locomotion place a functionally significant limitation on overall energy balance and performance? Degus spent about 2/3 of their above-ground time foraging; they remained stationary about 88 % of the time, walked around slowly about 10 %, and were running rapidly from one point to another only about 2 % of the time. Net locomotion costs (for walking and running combined) were computed to be only 2.2 % of total daily energy expenditure. This low net allocation of time and energy to locomotion, taken together with abundant distribution of plant food over the extremely small home range, suggests that the daily performance of degus is not limited by the absolute amount of time available under normal conditions at the summer solstice (seasonal extreme of day length, heat, and aridity). Total energy demands can be met by as little as 4.5 h surface activity per day. Our empirical observations, together with a simple computational model of time and energy expenditure, provide a useful validation of the impact of activity on the overall energy balance of a free-living rodent. The small impact of locomotion on the total energy budget is an economy of the behavior of these animals, and the rapid mode of locomotion allows them to minimize predation risks. We believe that this kind of quantitative analysis of energy expenditure associated with behavior in the field can contribute a useful basis for theoretically based time-energy modeling
author	Kenagy,G.J. Vásquez,Rodrigo A. Nespolo,Roberto F. Bozinovic,Francisco
author_facet	Kenagy,G.J. Vásquez,Rodrigo A. Nespolo,Roberto F. Bozinovic,Francisco
author_sort	Kenagy,G.J.
title	A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus
title_short	A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus
title_full	A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus
title_fullStr	A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus
title_full_unstemmed	A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus
title_sort	time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, octodon degus
publisher	Sociedad de Biología de Chile
publishDate	2002
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2002000100014
work_keys_str_mv	AT kenagygj atimeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT vasquezrodrigoa atimeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT nespolorobertof atimeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT bozinovicfrancisco atimeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT kenagygj timeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT vasquezrodrigoa timeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT nespolorobertof timeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus AT bozinovicfrancisco timeenergyanalysisofdaytimesurfaceactivityindegusoctodondegus
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A time-energy analysis of daytime surface activity in degus, Octodon degus

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