Sociality and insect abundance affect duration of nocturnal activity of male parti-colored bats

Hałat, Zuzanna; Dechmann, Dina K. N.; Zegarek, Marcin; Visser, Annemiek E J; Ruczyński, Ireneusz

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyy141

Cited by 22 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Low torpor use in both treatments in the period from mid-June until the beginning of August might thus be dependent on sex hormone levels. According to observations of Hałat et al (2018) in wild-ranging V. murinus males, spermatogenesis was ongoing at this time of the year. Plasma testosterone, which peaks during this period, may act to maintain metabolism and body temperature at normothermic levels during testicle growth (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food restriction delays seasonal sexual maturation but does not increase torpor use in male bats

Komar

Dechmann

Fasel

et al. 2020

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Balancing energy budgets can be challenging, especially in periods of food shortage, adverse weather conditions and increased energy demand due to reproduction. Bats have particularly high energy demands compared to other mammals and regularly use torpor to save energy. However, while torpor limits energy expenditure, it can also downregulate important processes, such as sperm production. This constraint could result in a trade-off between energy saving and future reproductive capacity. We mimicked harsh conditions by restricting food and tested the effect on changes in body mass, torpor use and seasonal sexual maturation in male parti-coloured bats (Vespertilio murinus). Food-restricted individuals managed to maintain their initial body mass, while in well-fed males, mass increased. Interestingly, despite large differences in food availability, there were only small differences in torpor patterns. However, well-fed males reached sexual maturity up to half a month earlier. Our results thus reveal a complex trade-off in resource allocation; independent of resource availability, males maintain a similar thermoregulation strategy and favour fast sexual maturation, but limited resources and low body mass moderate this latter process.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The captivity period coincided with sperm production and maturation. As males in eastern Poland stop being social in July (Hałat et al, 2018), we covered periods of both social and solitary lifestyles. In the period of June-July there is a noted high insect abundance in eastern Poland (Ruczynśki et al, 2019).…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food restriction delays seasonal sexual maturation but does not increase torpor use in male bats

Komar

Dechmann

Fasel

et al. 2020

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Our study was conducted in June and July of 2016 and 2017 in the Polish part of the Białowieża Primaeval Forest (52°45′8′′ N, 23°52′45′′ E). This overlapped with sexual development of male parti-coloured bats (Hałat et al 2018;Komar et al 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…We observed colonies in Białowieża Primaeval Forest from the beginning of June until the 9th of July. This period fully overlapped with the development of reproductive tissues, as confirmed by the progressive filling of the epididymes (Krutzsch 2000;Safi 2008;Hałat et al 2018;Komar et al 2020). Colony size ranged from 46 to just a few or even single individuals during this period (Hałat et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…This period fully overlapped with the development of reproductive tissues, as confirmed by the progressive filling of the epididymes (Krutzsch 2000;Safi 2008;Hałat et al 2018;Komar et al 2020). Colony size ranged from 46 to just a few or even single individuals during this period (Hałat et al 2018). We hypothesized that male parti-coloured bats should form larger groups and reduce torpor even during colder, rainy, and windy days, as well as days with low insect abundance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Male bats respond to adverse conditions with larger colonies and increased torpor use during sperm production

et al. 2020

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Changes in environmental conditions can have strong energetic effects on animals through limited food availability or increased thermoregulatory costs. Especially difficult are periods of increased energy expenditures, such as reproduction. Reproductive female bats from the temperate zone often aggregate in maternity colonies to profit from social thermoregulation to reduce torpor use and buffer the effects of poor conditions. The much rarer male colonies may form for similar reasons during testes development. Male colonies thus allow us to study the influence of environmental conditions on energy budget and colony size, without the confounding effects of parental care. We remotely monitored skin temperature and assessed colony size of male parti-coloured bats Vespertilio murinus during summer, and correlated those variables with environmental conditions and food availability (i.e. insect abundance). As we had hypothesized, we found that colony size increased at colder temperatures, but decreased at low wind speeds. Also as predicted, torpor use was relatively low, however, it did increase slightly during adverse conditions. Male sociality may be an adaptation to adverse environmental conditions during sexual maturation, but the pressure to avoid torpor during spermatogenesis may be lower than in pregnant or lactating females.

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Parti-Colored Bat Vespertilio murinus Linnaeus, 1758

Safi

2023

Handbook of the Mammals of Europe

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Sociality and insect abundance affect duration of nocturnal activity of male parti-colored bats

Cited by 22 publications

References 51 publications

Food restriction delays seasonal sexual maturation but does not increase torpor use in male bats

Food restriction delays seasonal sexual maturation but does not increase torpor use in male bats

Male bats respond to adverse conditions with larger colonies and increased torpor use during sperm production

Parti-Colored Bat Vespertilio murinus Linnaeus, 1758

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