Title: Mammal Ecology as an Indicator of Climate Change
Abstract: Publisher Summary Fruit bats, like other mammals and birds, use a combination of physiological and behavioral mechanisms to regulate their body temperature. This thermoregulatory capacity decouples their core body temperature from air temperature. Thus, despite exposure of the body surface to very cold or very hot air temperatures, appropriate physiological and behavioral thermoregulatory responses ensure that core body temperature never varies by more than a few degrees centigrade between birth and death. Even birds and mammals that express torpor do not abandon thermoregulation, but rather lower their thermoregulatory setpoint. For all endotherms, the abandonment of thermoregulation is fatal. The capacity for mammals to thermoregulate might be expected to enable a degree of thermal independence that reduces their vulnerability to environmental conditions and their sensitivity to climate change. The defining feature of endotherms is their use of metabolic heat to regulate their body core at a constant set-point temperature that is independent of air temperature. Under hot conditions, where the body gains heat from the environment, endotherms must begin actively dissipating heat through panting, perspiration, saliva spreading, and in the case of bats, wing fanning. The metabolic rate of endotherms is minimized when they are at rest, in their thermoneutral zone, and not digesting food; metabolism measured under these circumstances is referred to as basal metabolic rate. Climate exerts additional, indirect effects on mammals through its effect on their resources, competitors and predators. Temperature has a fundamental effect on all biological processes, and thus climate variation should profoundly affect all organisms sharing the same environment.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 10
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot