Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate.
This is the postprint version of the article. The published version can be located on the publisher's webpage While the behavioural response of animals to unfavourable climatic conditions has received increased attention recently, most habitat selection studies nonetheless ignore effects of amb...
Published in: | Animal Behaviour |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11250/134154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.06.032 |
id |
fthshedmarkcom:oai:brage.bibsys.no:11250/134154 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
fthshedmarkcom:oai:brage.bibsys.no:11250/134154 2023-05-15T13:13:33+02:00 Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. van Beest, Floris van Moorter, Bram Milner, Jos 2012 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/134154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.06.032 eng eng 723-735 84 Animal Behavior 3 climate change deer endotherms habitat selection SSF thermoregulation trade-off VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 Journal article Peer reviewed 2012 fthshedmarkcom https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.06.032 2017-10-27T17:31:08Z This is the postprint version of the article. The published version can be located on the publisher's webpage While the behavioural response of animals to unfavourable climatic conditions has received increased attention recently, most habitat selection studies nonetheless ignore effects of ambient temperature. Thermoregulatory behaviour in endotherms should be most notable in species susceptible to heat stress. We evaluated whether a heat-sensitive northern ungulate, the moose (Alces alces), showed thermoregulatory behaviour in response to ambient temperature in two populations in southern Norway. We quantified the seasonal habitat use of GPS-collared adult females, as well as fine-scale habitat selection patterns, in relation to time of day and critical temperature thresholds thought to induce heat stress. We also assessed whether temperature driven changes in spatial behaviour led to a trade-off between thermal cover and forage availability. Frequent exposure to temperatures above critical thresholds occurred in both summer and winter and in both study areas. Moose responded by seeking thermal shelter in mature coniferous forest and avoiding open habitat types, leading to a trade-off between forage and cover availability in summer but not winter. Differences in habitat choice in response to temperature were most pronounced at twilight. We found that fine-scale habitat selection analyses, using step selection functions, more effectively revealed thermoregulatory behaviour in both seasons and populations than habitat use. This is because habitat selection analyses are better able to identify limiting factors operating at different spatiotemporal scales than habitat use. Future studies on thermoregulatory animal behaviour should focus on the effect of abiotic factors, such as climate, on habitat-fitness relationships, which may be critical to understanding population responses to a changing climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences: Brage INN Norway Animal Behaviour 84 3 723 735 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences: Brage INN |
op_collection_id |
fthshedmarkcom |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change deer endotherms habitat selection SSF thermoregulation trade-off VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 |
spellingShingle |
climate change deer endotherms habitat selection SSF thermoregulation trade-off VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 van Beest, Floris van Moorter, Bram Milner, Jos Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
topic_facet |
climate change deer endotherms habitat selection SSF thermoregulation trade-off VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 |
description |
This is the postprint version of the article. The published version can be located on the publisher's webpage While the behavioural response of animals to unfavourable climatic conditions has received increased attention recently, most habitat selection studies nonetheless ignore effects of ambient temperature. Thermoregulatory behaviour in endotherms should be most notable in species susceptible to heat stress. We evaluated whether a heat-sensitive northern ungulate, the moose (Alces alces), showed thermoregulatory behaviour in response to ambient temperature in two populations in southern Norway. We quantified the seasonal habitat use of GPS-collared adult females, as well as fine-scale habitat selection patterns, in relation to time of day and critical temperature thresholds thought to induce heat stress. We also assessed whether temperature driven changes in spatial behaviour led to a trade-off between thermal cover and forage availability. Frequent exposure to temperatures above critical thresholds occurred in both summer and winter and in both study areas. Moose responded by seeking thermal shelter in mature coniferous forest and avoiding open habitat types, leading to a trade-off between forage and cover availability in summer but not winter. Differences in habitat choice in response to temperature were most pronounced at twilight. We found that fine-scale habitat selection analyses, using step selection functions, more effectively revealed thermoregulatory behaviour in both seasons and populations than habitat use. This is because habitat selection analyses are better able to identify limiting factors operating at different spatiotemporal scales than habitat use. Future studies on thermoregulatory animal behaviour should focus on the effect of abiotic factors, such as climate, on habitat-fitness relationships, which may be critical to understanding population responses to a changing climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van Beest, Floris van Moorter, Bram Milner, Jos |
author_facet |
van Beest, Floris van Moorter, Bram Milner, Jos |
author_sort |
van Beest, Floris |
title |
Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
title_short |
Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
title_full |
Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
title_fullStr |
Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
title_sort |
temperature-mediated habitat use and selection by a heat-sensitive northern ungulate. |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/134154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.06.032 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
723-735 84 Animal Behavior 3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.06.032 |
container_title |
Animal Behaviour |
container_volume |
84 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
723 |
op_container_end_page |
735 |
_version_ |
1766259083882528768 |