Dataset Information

Effects of reproduction and environmental factors on body temperature and activity patterns of wolverines.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mammals in the far north are exposed to extreme seasonal changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature and photoperiod, which have notable effects on animal physiology and behaviour. The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is a carnivore with a circumpolar distribution and well-adapted to extreme environmental conditions. Still, ecophysiological studies on free-ranging wolverines are lacking. In this study, we used abdominally implanted body temperature loggers in combination with GPS collars with acceleration sensors on 14 free-ranging wolverines in northern Sweden to study daily and seasonal variation in body temperature and activity patterns. We used generalized additive mixed modelling to investigate body temperature patterns over time and Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis to analyse circadian rhythms.

Results

We found that wolverines have an average core body temperature of 38.5?±?0.2?°C with a daily variation of up to 6?°C. Body temperature patterns varied between reproductive states. Pregnant females showed a distinct decrease in body temperature during gestation. Wolverines were active both in day and night, but displayed distinct activity peaks during crepuscular hours. However, body temperature and activity patterns changed seasonally, with a gradual change from a unimodal pattern in winter with concentrated activity during the short period of day light to a bimodal pattern in autumn with activity peaks around dusk and dawn. Wolverines were less likely to display 24-h rhythms in winter, when hours of day light are limited.

Conclusions

The combination of different biologging techniques gave novel insight into the ecophysiology, activity patterns and reproductive biology of free-ranging wolverines, adding important knowledge to our understanding of animals adapted to cold environments at northern latitudes.

SUBMITTER: Thiel A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6580505 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Effects of reproduction and environmental factors on body temperature and activity patterns of wolverines.

Thiel Alexandra A Evans Alina L AL Fuchs Boris B Arnemo Jon M JM Aronsson Malin M Persson Jens J

Frontiers in zoology 20190617

<h4>Background</h4>Mammals in the far north are exposed to extreme seasonal changes in environmental conditions, such as temperature and photoperiod, which have notable effects on animal physiology and behaviour. The wolverine (<i>Gulo gulo</i>) is a carnivore with a circumpolar distribution and well-adapted to extreme environmental conditions. Still, ecophysiological studies on free-ranging wolverines are lacking. In this study, we used abdominally implanted body temperature loggers in combinat ...[more]

PMID: 31236127

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Project description:BackgroundSchistosomiasis japonica is a chronic parasitic disease that seriously harms people's health. Oncomelania hupensis is the only intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum. The micro-environmental factors surrounding the snail have a great impact on the survival, growth and reproduction of O. hupensis, but there are few relevant systematic analyses until the present. This scoping review aims to identify and summarize the micro-environmental factors that greatly affect O. hupensis, and to find gaps in research thus to provide directions for future in-depth studies.Main bodyThis scoping review searched databases with search terms of the combinations of "Micro(-)environment", "Oncomelania" and their expanded aspects. A total of 133 original articles were recruited. Predefined data fields were extracted including research methods, influencing factors, and their effects on O. hupensis. Most studies focused on vegetation factors (54.1%), and other factors noted were soil composition (27.8%), water environmental factors (24.1%), and predator (3.0%), respectively. The factors with positive impacts included water level, pH value, soil temperature, soil humidity, the coverage and height of vegetation at suitable levels. This could provide more detailed information for O. hupensis habitat identification and prediction. The factors with negative impacts included plant extracts, snail control and disease prevention forests, and microorganisms with molluscicidal activities. It revealed a potential application as ecological molluscicides in the future. Factors such as physico-chemical properties of water, soil chemistry showed a gap in scientific studies, thus required further extensive research.ConclusionsMicro-environmental factors including water quality, soil composition as well as the technology and application of biomolluscicides (plant extracts and microorganisms) deserve more attention. Relative study findings on micro-environment have good potentials in snail control applications. Further studies should be implemented to investigate the impact of micro-environmental factors on snails and close the research gaps.

Dataset Information

Effects of reproduction and environmental factors on body temperature and activity patterns of wolverines.

Background

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Effects of reproduction and environmental factors on body temperature and activity patterns of wolverines.

Similar Datasets

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