Forecasting the response to global warming in a heat-sensitive species

Brivio, Francesca; Zurmühl, Milena; Grignolio, Stefano; Hardenberg, Jost von; Apollonio, Marco; Ciuti, Simone

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-39450-5

Cited by 45 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Ambient temperature was repeatedly shown to be one of the most important factors affecting the activity rhythms (Maloney et al 2005;Pagon et al 2013;Brivio et al 2016Brivio et al , 2017Grignolio et al 2018) and spatial behaviour of ungulates (Mysterud and Østbye 1999;Marchand et al 2015;Mason et al 2014Mason et al , 2017. By reducing activity when it is warmer and selecting cooler microclimates in their environment (Mysterud and Østbye 1999;Marchand et al 2015;Brivio et al 2019), animals may be able to avoid heat stress, while reducing the costs for autonomic thermoregulation (Terrien et al 2011). Our results are consistent with these findings and suggest that temperature strongly affected the behavioural strategies of the monitored individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of spatial and temporal overlap in three ungulate species in a Mediterranean environment

et al. 2020

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Interspecific interactions are key drivers in structuring animal communities. Sympatric animals may show such behavioural patterns as the differential use of space and/or time to avoid competitive encounters. We took advantage of the ecological conditions of our study area, inhabited by different ungulate species, to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of Capreolus capreolus, Dama dama and Sus scrofa. We estimated intraspecific interaction arising from the concomitant use of resources by using camera trapping. We collected 2741 videos with the three ungulates, which showed peculiar activity patterns. The three species were observed in all the habitat types of the study area over the four seasons, thus highlighting an evident spatial overlap. Moreover, our analysis demonstrated that the three species did not avoid each other through temporal segregation of their activities, rather showing a high overlap of daily activity rhythms, though with differences among the species and the seasons. Despite the high spatial and temporal overlap, the three species seemed to adopt segregation through fine-scale spatial avoidance: at an hourly level, the proportion of sites where the species were observed together was relatively low. This spatio-temporal segregation revealed complex and alternative behavioural strategies, which likely facilitated intra-guild sympatry among the studied species. Both temporal and spatio-temporal overlap reached the highest values in summer, when environmental conditions were more demanding. Given these results, we may presume that different drivers (e.g. temperature, human disturbance), which are likely stronger than interspecific interactions, affected activity rhythms and fine-scale spatial use of the studied species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of spatial and temporal overlap in three ungulate species in a Mediterranean environment

et al. 2020

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“…The possibility that higher elevations may constitute less stressful habitats for L. picturatus and L. externus is consistent with some broader trends in elevational dynamics of species distributions. It is understood that mountain‐top habitats serve as refugia for many cold adapted species (Brivio et al., 2019; Hampe & Jump, 2011; Hering et al., 2009). Species that have evolved to conditions found at high elevations will require cooler temperatures (or other abiotic variables associated with high‐elevation habitats) while hot environments associated with lower elevations will likely be stressful, resulting in lower elevation boundaries that are controlled by abiotic variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation alters outcome of competition between resident and range‐shifting species

Shepard

Wissinger

Greig

2020

Global Change Biology

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Species’ geographic range shifts toward higher latitudes and elevations are among the most frequently reported consequences of climate change. However, the role of species interactions in setting range margins remains poorly understood. We used cage experiments in ponds to test competing hypotheses about the role of abiotic and biotic mechanisms for structuring range boundaries of an upslope range‐shifting caddisfly Limnephilus picturatus. We found that competition with a ubiquitous species Limnephilus externus significantly decreased L. picturatus survival and emergence at subalpine elevations supporting the notion that species interactions play a critical role in determining upslope range limits. However, without competitors, L. picturatus survival was greater at high‐elevation than low‐elevation sites. This was contrary to decreases in body mass (a proxy for fecundity) with elevation regardless of the presence of competitors. We ultimately show that species interactions can be important for setting upslope range margins. Yet, our results also highlight the complications in defining what may be abiotically stressful for this species and the importance of considering multiple demographic variables. Understanding how species ranges will respond in a changing climate will require quantifying species interactions and how they are influenced by the abiotic context in which they play out.

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“…In Alpine ibex, the thermoregulation-foraging trade-off is a pivotal driver of spatio-temporal variation in animal distribution (Brivio et al, 2019;Mason, Brivio, Stephens, Apollonio, & Grignolio, 2017). It has been shown that this trade-off varies across the seasons: thermoregulation appears to override forage productivity in importance when temperatures are high (i.e., August: Mason et al, 2017;Brivio et al, 2019). Overall, the results of these studies strongly indicate the need of further research to disentangle how ibex deal with the trade-offs among the avoidance of overheating, food acquisition and reduction in predation risk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual differences in the behavioural response to a variation in predation risk

et al. 2019

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Predators may influence their prey populations not only through direct lethal effects, but also by causing behavioural changes. The natural expansion of the wolf (Canis lupus) into the Alps provided the rare opportunity to monitor the responses of a prey species to the return of a large predator. Density effects have rarely been considered in the study of antipredator strategies. We examined the effects of wolf recolonisation and density modifications on group size and use of safe areas by Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), where no large terrestrial predator has been present for about a century. We documented that, in a few years, the variation in the factors affecting the landscape of fear caused significant modifications in ibex behavioural patterns that could not be accounted for by density changes only. Male groups decreased in size and moved closer to safer areas. The distance of female groups from refuge sites, instead, was not affected, and their propensity to live in groups was scarcely modified. Behavioural modifications likely caused a reduction in nutrient intake in adult male ibex, as they necessarily used lower‐quality feeding patches. Our results showed that male and female ibex, which are characterised by a strong dimorphism, adopted different strategies to solve the conflicting demands of foraging efficiently and avoiding predators.

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Forecasting the response to global warming in a heat-sensitive species

Cited by 45 publications

References 74 publications

Estimation of spatial and temporal overlap in three ungulate species in a Mediterranean environment

Estimation of spatial and temporal overlap in three ungulate species in a Mediterranean environment

Elevation alters outcome of competition between resident and range‐shifting species

Sexual differences in the behavioural response to a variation in predation risk

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