On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate
For free-ranging animals living in seasonal environments, hypometabolism (lowered metabolic rate) and hypothermia (lowered body temperature) can be effective physiological strategies to conserve energy when forage resources are low. To what extent such strategies are adopted by large mammals living...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3018106 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 |
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fthsinnlandet:oai:brage.inn.no:11250/3018106 2024-03-03T08:41:35+00:00 On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate Schmidt, Niels M. Grøndahl, Carsten Evans, Alina Desforges, Jean-Pierre Blake, John Hansen, Lars H. Beumer, Larissa T. Mosbacher, Jesper B. Stelvig, Mikkel Greunz, Eva M. Chimienti, Marianna van Beest, Floris M. 2020 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3018106 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 eng eng Scientific Reports. 2020, 10 . urn:issn:2045-2322 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3018106 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 cristin:1821109 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no 0 10 Scientific Reports 1514 free-ranging animals hypometabolism hypothermia conserve energy low resources muskox extreme conditions large mammals Ovibos moschatus VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 Peer reviewed Journal article 2020 fthsinnlandet https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 2024-02-02T12:42:27Z For free-ranging animals living in seasonal environments, hypometabolism (lowered metabolic rate) and hypothermia (lowered body temperature) can be effective physiological strategies to conserve energy when forage resources are low. To what extent such strategies are adopted by large mammals living under extreme conditions, as those encountered in the high Arctic, is largely unknown, especially for species where the gestation period overlaps with the period of lowest resource availability (i.e. winter). Here we investigated for the first time the level to which high arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) adopt hypothermia and tested the hypothesis that individual plasticity in the use of hypothermia depends on reproductive status. We measured core body temperature over most of the gestation period in both free-ranging muskox females in Greenland and captive female muskoxen in Alaska. We found divergent overwintering strategies according to reproductive status, where pregnant females maintained stable body temperatures during winter, while non-pregnant females exhibited a temporary decrease in their winter body temperature. These results show that muskox females use hypothermia during periods of resource scarcity, but also that the use of this strategy may be limited to non-reproducing females. Our findings suggest a trade-of between metabolically driven energy conservation during winter and sustaining foetal growth, which may also apply to other large herbivores living in highly seasonal environments elsewhere. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland muskox ovibos moschatus Alaska Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN Arctic Greenland Scientific Reports 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN |
op_collection_id |
fthsinnlandet |
language |
English |
topic |
free-ranging animals hypometabolism hypothermia conserve energy low resources muskox extreme conditions large mammals Ovibos moschatus VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 |
spellingShingle |
free-ranging animals hypometabolism hypothermia conserve energy low resources muskox extreme conditions large mammals Ovibos moschatus VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 Schmidt, Niels M. Grøndahl, Carsten Evans, Alina Desforges, Jean-Pierre Blake, John Hansen, Lars H. Beumer, Larissa T. Mosbacher, Jesper B. Stelvig, Mikkel Greunz, Eva M. Chimienti, Marianna van Beest, Floris M. On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
topic_facet |
free-ranging animals hypometabolism hypothermia conserve energy low resources muskox extreme conditions large mammals Ovibos moschatus VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 |
description |
For free-ranging animals living in seasonal environments, hypometabolism (lowered metabolic rate) and hypothermia (lowered body temperature) can be effective physiological strategies to conserve energy when forage resources are low. To what extent such strategies are adopted by large mammals living under extreme conditions, as those encountered in the high Arctic, is largely unknown, especially for species where the gestation period overlaps with the period of lowest resource availability (i.e. winter). Here we investigated for the first time the level to which high arctic muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) adopt hypothermia and tested the hypothesis that individual plasticity in the use of hypothermia depends on reproductive status. We measured core body temperature over most of the gestation period in both free-ranging muskox females in Greenland and captive female muskoxen in Alaska. We found divergent overwintering strategies according to reproductive status, where pregnant females maintained stable body temperatures during winter, while non-pregnant females exhibited a temporary decrease in their winter body temperature. These results show that muskox females use hypothermia during periods of resource scarcity, but also that the use of this strategy may be limited to non-reproducing females. Our findings suggest a trade-of between metabolically driven energy conservation during winter and sustaining foetal growth, which may also apply to other large herbivores living in highly seasonal environments elsewhere. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schmidt, Niels M. Grøndahl, Carsten Evans, Alina Desforges, Jean-Pierre Blake, John Hansen, Lars H. Beumer, Larissa T. Mosbacher, Jesper B. Stelvig, Mikkel Greunz, Eva M. Chimienti, Marianna van Beest, Floris M. |
author_facet |
Schmidt, Niels M. Grøndahl, Carsten Evans, Alina Desforges, Jean-Pierre Blake, John Hansen, Lars H. Beumer, Larissa T. Mosbacher, Jesper B. Stelvig, Mikkel Greunz, Eva M. Chimienti, Marianna van Beest, Floris M. |
author_sort |
Schmidt, Niels M. |
title |
On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
title_short |
On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
title_full |
On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
title_fullStr |
On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
title_sort |
on the interplay between hypothermia and reproduction in a high arctic ungulate |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3018106 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland muskox ovibos moschatus Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland muskox ovibos moschatus Alaska |
op_source |
0 10 Scientific Reports 1514 |
op_relation |
Scientific Reports. 2020, 10 . urn:issn:2045-2322 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3018106 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 cristin:1821109 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58298-8 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1792497270443212800 |