Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa)
The wild boar (Sus scrofa) originates from warm islands but now inhabits large areas of the world, with Antarctica as the only continent not inhabited by this species. One might be tempted to think that its wide distribution results from increasing environmental temperatures. However, any effect of...
Published in: | Journal of Comparative Physiology B |
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ftvetmeduwien:oai:phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at:o:3458 2024-09-15T17:46:51+00:00 Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) Ruf, Thomas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Bieber, Claudia (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Stalder, Gabrielle (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Vetter, Sebastian G. (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Painer-Gigler, Johanna (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) 2023 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-023-01512-6 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3458 eng eng Springer isPartOf:https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605[Publications / University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna] doi:10.1007/s00360-023-01512-6 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3458 CC BY 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Comparative Physiology B - Biochemical Systems and Environmental Physiology 193(6), 689-697 (2023) Metabolic-Rate Heart-Rate Temperature Pigs Behavior Models article 2023 ftvetmeduwien https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-023-01512-6 2024-09-05T23:35:02Z The wild boar (Sus scrofa) originates from warm islands but now inhabits large areas of the world, with Antarctica as the only continent not inhabited by this species. One might be tempted to think that its wide distribution results from increasing environmental temperatures. However, any effect of temperature is only indirect: Abundant availability of critical food resources can fully compensate the negative effects of cold winters on population growth. Here, we asked if temperature as a habitat factor is unimportant compared with other habitat indices, simply because wild boars are excellent thermoregulators. We found that the thermoneutral zone in summer was approximately 6-24 °C. In winter, the thermoneutral zone was lowered to 0-7 °C. The estimated increase in the heart rate and energy expenditure in the cold was less than 30% per 10 °C temperature decline. This relatively small increase of energy expenditure during cold exposure places the wild boar in the realm of arctic animals, such as the polar bear, whereas tropical mammals raise their energy expenditure several fold. The response of wild boars to high Ta was weak across all seasons. In the heat, wild boars avoid close contact to conspecifics and particularly use wallowing in mud or other wet substrates to cool and prevent hyperthermia. Wild boars also rely on daily cycles, especially of rhythms in subcutaneous temperature that enables them to cheaply build large core-shell gradients, which serve to lower heat loss. We argue it is predominantly this ability which allowed wild boars to inhabit most climatically diverse areas in the world. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica polar bear Vetmeduni Vienna Phaidra (University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna) Journal of Comparative Physiology B 193 6 689 697 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Vetmeduni Vienna Phaidra (University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna) |
op_collection_id |
ftvetmeduwien |
language |
English |
topic |
Metabolic-Rate Heart-Rate Temperature Pigs Behavior Models |
spellingShingle |
Metabolic-Rate Heart-Rate Temperature Pigs Behavior Models Ruf, Thomas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Bieber, Claudia (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Stalder, Gabrielle (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Vetter, Sebastian G. (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Painer-Gigler, Johanna (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) |
topic_facet |
Metabolic-Rate Heart-Rate Temperature Pigs Behavior Models |
description |
The wild boar (Sus scrofa) originates from warm islands but now inhabits large areas of the world, with Antarctica as the only continent not inhabited by this species. One might be tempted to think that its wide distribution results from increasing environmental temperatures. However, any effect of temperature is only indirect: Abundant availability of critical food resources can fully compensate the negative effects of cold winters on population growth. Here, we asked if temperature as a habitat factor is unimportant compared with other habitat indices, simply because wild boars are excellent thermoregulators. We found that the thermoneutral zone in summer was approximately 6-24 °C. In winter, the thermoneutral zone was lowered to 0-7 °C. The estimated increase in the heart rate and energy expenditure in the cold was less than 30% per 10 °C temperature decline. This relatively small increase of energy expenditure during cold exposure places the wild boar in the realm of arctic animals, such as the polar bear, whereas tropical mammals raise their energy expenditure several fold. The response of wild boars to high Ta was weak across all seasons. In the heat, wild boars avoid close contact to conspecifics and particularly use wallowing in mud or other wet substrates to cool and prevent hyperthermia. Wild boars also rely on daily cycles, especially of rhythms in subcutaneous temperature that enables them to cheaply build large core-shell gradients, which serve to lower heat loss. We argue it is predominantly this ability which allowed wild boars to inhabit most climatically diverse areas in the world. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ruf, Thomas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Bieber, Claudia (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Stalder, Gabrielle (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Vetter, Sebastian G. (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Painer-Gigler, Johanna (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) |
author_facet |
Ruf, Thomas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Bieber, Claudia (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Stalder, Gabrielle (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Vetter, Sebastian G. (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) Painer-Gigler, Johanna (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) |
author_sort |
Ruf, Thomas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) |
title |
Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) |
title_short |
Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) |
title_full |
Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) |
title_fullStr |
Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thermoregulation in the wild boar (Sus scrofa) |
title_sort |
thermoregulation in the wild boar (sus scrofa) |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-023-01512-6 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3458 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica polar bear |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica polar bear |
op_source |
Journal of Comparative Physiology B - Biochemical Systems and Environmental Physiology 193(6), 689-697 (2023) |
op_relation |
isPartOf:https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:605[Publications / University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna] doi:10.1007/s00360-023-01512-6 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3458 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-023-01512-6 |
container_title |
Journal of Comparative Physiology B |
container_volume |
193 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
689 |
op_container_end_page |
697 |
_version_ |
1810495259069644800 |