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Hayes FP, Berger J. Snow patch refugia benefits for species of periglacial zones-Evidence from a high-elevation obligate. PNAS NEXUS 2023; 2:pgad339. [PMID: 37954161 PMCID: PMC10635665 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
Conserving Earth's most rapidly changing biomes necessitates understanding biological consequences of altered climes. Past species- and taxa-level responses to warming environs include numerous concentrated extirpations at the southern peripheries of distributions during the late Pleistocene. Less clear are localized capacities of cold-adapted species to mitigate thermal challenges against warming temperatures, especially through proximate behavioral and physiological adjustments. Whereas snow patches persist in periglacial zones and elsewhere, broad reductions in seasonal snow raise concerns about how and why species continue to use them. If snow patches play a functional role to combat increasing thermal demands, we predicted individuals would display an array of autonomic responses to increased temperatures modulated by wind, ambient temperature, and winter fur on and away from snow patches. We tested these predictions using a mammalian exemplar of high latitude and high elevation, mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), using two sites in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. Surprisingly, and contrary to expectations of reduced thermal stress, respiration rates were not decreased on snow patches but use of snow was strongly correlated with decreased metrics of insect harassment. As snow cover continues to decline in montane environs, the persistence of cold-adapted species depends on navigating concurrent changes in biotic communities and thermal environments and balancing competing pressures on behavioral and biological responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Forest P Hayes
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 951 Amy Van Dyken Way, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
| | - Joel Berger
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, 951 Amy Van Dyken Way, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA
- Wildlife Conservation Society–Global Program, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460, USA
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2
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Berger J, Biel M, Hayes FP. Species conflict at Earth’s edges – Contests, climate, and coveted resources. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.991714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Direct conflict between species is an infrequently witnessed biological phenomenon. Potential drivers of such contests can include climate change, especially at Earth’s high elevation and latitudinal extremes where temperatures warm 2–5 times faster than elsewhere and hydro-geomorphic processes such as glacial recession and soil erosion affect species access to abiotic resources. We addressed a component of this broader issue by empirical assessments of mammalian conflict over access to four abiotic resources – minerals, water, snow, and shade – by annotation of past studies and by empirical data collection. Evidence for Nearctic and Palearctic mammals indicates that when desert waters are in short supply, contests intensify, generally favoring larger species regardless of their status as native or exotic. Our empirical data indicate that contests between two large and approximately similarly-sized mammals – mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) – along a 2,500 km gradient at three high-altitude (above tree-line) sites in the Rocky Mountains of North America, result in striking asymmetries; goats dominated > 95% of interactions. Despite far fewer observations of encounters to access shade or snow patches, an increasingly prominent dialog needs to be held about rarely explored biological phenomena where less is known than we might otherwise presume, whether induced by climate or increasing anthropological alteration because of underpinnings to understand community structure and conservation planning. Observations on the frequency and intensity by which individuals escalate behavior to access abiotic resources remains an underappreciated arena to help identify the proximate importance of scarcity in the natural environment. Notwithstanding Darwin’s prediction some 165 years ago that populations in extreme environments (high-latitude, high-altitude) are more likely to be impacted by abiotic variables than biotic, conflict between species may be reflective of climate degradation coupled with the changing nature of coveted resources.
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Merrill E, Killeen J, Pettit J, Trottier M, Martin H, Berg J, Bohm H, Eggeman S, Hebblewhite M. Density-Dependent Foraging Behaviors on Sympatric Winter Ranges in a Partially Migratory Elk Population. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
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Berger J, Wangchuk T, Briceño C, Vila A, Lambert JE. Disassembled Food Webs and Messy Projections: Modern Ungulate Communities in the Face of Unabating Human Population Growth. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
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Sarmento W, Biel M, Berger J. Seeking snow and breathing hard - Behavioral tactics in high elevation mammals to combat warming temperatures. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225456. [PMID: 31825971 PMCID: PMC6905581 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The world glaciers and areas of persistent summer snowpack are being lost due to warming temperatures. For cold-adapted species, habitat features may offer opportunities for cooling during summer heat yet the loss of snow and ice may compromise derived thermoregulatory benefits. Herein we offer insights about habitat selection for snow and the extent to which other behavioral adjustments reduce thermal debt among high elevation mammals. Specifically, we concentrate on respiration in mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), a species whose native distribution is currently tied to northern mountain ranges of North America, where large patches of persistent summer snow are declining, and which became extinct during geologically warmer epochs. To examine sensitivity to possible thermal stressors and use of summer snow cover, we tracked marked and unmarked mountain goats in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, to test hypotheses about selection for cold microclimates including shade and snow during periods of relatively high temperature. To understand functional responses of habitat choices, we measured microhabitat temperatures and a component of goat physiology–breaths per minute–as an index for metabolic expenditure. Individuals 1) selected areas closer to snow on warmer summer days, and 2) on snow had a 15% mean reduction in respiration when accounting for other factors, which suggests remnant snow plays an important role in mediating effects of air temperature. The use of shade was not as an important variable in models explaining respiration. Despite the loss of 85% of glaciers in in Glacier National Park, summer’s remnant snow patches are an important reservoir by which animals reduce heat stress and potential hyperthermia. Our findings, when contextualized with behavioral strategies deployed by other high elevation mammalian taxa help frame how ambient temperatures may be modulated, and they offer a direct way by which to assess susceptibility to increasing heat in cold-adapted species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley Sarmento
- Wildlife Biology Program, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Mark Biel
- Glacier National Park, West Glacier, Montana, United States of America
| | - Joel Berger
- Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.,Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America
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Uhl EW. The pathology of vitamin D deficiency in domesticated animals: An evolutionary and comparative overview. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2018; 23:100-109. [PMID: 29544996 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 03/02/2018] [Accepted: 03/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Although vitamin D is critical to calcium/phosphorus homeostasis, bone formation and remodeling, there is evolution-based variation between species in vitamin D metabolism and susceptibility to rickets and osteomalacia. Most herbivores produce vitamin D3 in response to sunlight, but dogs and cats have generally lost the ability as carnivore diets are rich in vitamin D. Nutritional deficiencies and/or poor exposure to sunlight can induce rickets in birds, swine, cattle and sheep, but horses are less susceptible as they have evolved a calcium homeostasis that is quite different than other animals. Adaptations to specific environments also affect disease incidence: llamas/alpacas out of their natural high altitude intense solar radiation environments are highly susceptible to vitamin D deficiency. The pathology of rickets/osteomalacia is similar across species, however fibrous osteodystrophy is more common and may also be present. Rickets/osteomalacia were likely more common in animals before the advent of commercial diets, but can be difficult to definitively diagnose especially in single archeological specimens. Consideration of species susceptibility, location - especially in terms of latitude, and any available information on diet, season of occurrence, husbandry practices or descriptions of affected animals can support the diagnosis of metabolic bone disease in animals.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Animals, Domestic
- History, 15th Century
- History, 16th Century
- History, 17th Century
- History, 18th Century
- History, 19th Century
- History, 20th Century
- History, 21st Century
- History, Ancient
- History, Medieval
- Vitamin D Deficiency/history
- Vitamin D Deficiency/veterinary
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth W Uhl
- Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, 501 DW Brooks Drive, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602-7388, United States.
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Mahoney PJ, Liston GE, LaPoint S, Gurarie E, Mangipane B, Wells AG, Brinkman TJ, Eitel JUH, Hebblewhite M, Nolin AW, Boelman N, Prugh LR. Navigating snowscapes: scale-dependent responses of mountain sheep to snowpack properties. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2018; 28:1715-1729. [PMID: 30074675 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2017] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/27/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Winters are limiting for many terrestrial animals due to energy deficits brought on by resource scarcity and the increased metabolic costs of thermoregulation and traveling through snow. A better understanding of how animals respond to snow conditions is needed to predict the impacts of climate change on wildlife. We compared the performance of remotely sensed and modeled snow products as predictors of winter movements at multiple spatial and temporal scales using a data set of 20,544 locations from 30 GPS-collared Dall sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA from 2005 to 2008. We used daily 500-m MODIS normalized difference snow index (NDSI), and multi-resolution snow depth and density outputs from a snowpack evolution model (SnowModel), as covariates in step selection functions. We predicted that modeled snow depth would perform best across all scales of selection due to more informative spatiotemporal variation and relevance to animal movement. Our results indicated that adding any of the evaluated snow metrics substantially improved model performance and helped characterize winter Dall sheep movements. As expected, SnowModel-simulated snow depth outperformed NDSI at fine-to-moderate scales of selection (step scales < 112 h). At the finest scale, Dall sheep selected for snow depths below mean chest height (<54 cm) when in low-density snows (100 kg/m3 ), which may have facilitated access to ground forage and reduced energy expenditure while traveling. However, sheep selected for higher snow densities (>300 kg/m3 ) at snow depths above chest height, which likely further reduced energy expenditure by limiting hoof penetration in deeper snows. At moderate-to-coarse scales (112-896 h step scales), however, NDSI was the best-performing snow covariate. Thus, the use of publicly available, remotely sensed, snow cover products can substantially improve models of animal movement, particularly in cases where movement distances exceed the MODIS 500-m grid threshold. However, remote sensing products may require substantial data thinning due to cloud cover, potentially limiting its power in cases where complex models are necessary. Snowpack evolution models such as SnowModel offer users increased flexibility at the expense of added complexity, but can provide critical insights into fine-scale responses to rapidly changing snow properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Mahoney
- School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-2100, USA
| | - Glen E Liston
- Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523-1375, USA
| | - Scott LaPoint
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964-1000, USA
- Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, 78315, Germany
| | - Eliezer Gurarie
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA
| | - Buck Mangipane
- Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, U.S. National Park Service, Port Alsworth, Alaska, 99653, USA
| | - Adam G Wells
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 83844, USA
| | - Todd J Brinkman
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbank, Alaska, 99775, USA
| | - Jan U H Eitel
- Geospatial Laboratory for Environmental Dynamics, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 83844-1135, USA
- McCall Outdoor Science School, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, McCall, Idaho, 83638, USA
| | - Mark Hebblewhite
- Wildlife Biology Program, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, 59812, USA
| | - Anne W Nolin
- College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331-5503, USA
| | - Natalie Boelman
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964-1000, USA
| | - Laura R Prugh
- School of Environmental and Forest Science, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-2100, USA
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Chen M, Sun Y, Yang C, Zeng G, Li Z, Zhang J. The road to wild yak protection in China. Science 2018; 360:866. [PMID: 29798876 DOI: 10.1126/science.aat6749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ming Chen
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China. .,Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Yingzhu Sun
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.,Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Chunping Yang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China. .,Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Guangming Zeng
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.,Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Zhongwu Li
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.,Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China
| | - Jiachao Zhang
- College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
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Climate Degradation and Extreme Icing Events Constrain Life in Cold-Adapted Mammals. Sci Rep 2018; 8:1156. [PMID: 29348632 PMCID: PMC5773676 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-19416-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the growth in knowledge about the effects of a warming Arctic on its cold-adapted species, the mechanisms by which these changes affect animal populations remain poorly understood. Increasing temperatures, declining sea ice and altered wind and precipitation patterns all may affect the fitness and abundance of species through multiple direct and indirect pathways. Here we demonstrate previously unknown effects of rain-on-snow (ROS) events, winter precipitation, and ice tidal surges on the Arctic’s largest land mammal. Using novel field data across seven years and three Alaskan and Russian sites, we show arrested skeletal growth in juvenile muskoxen resulting from unusually dry winter conditions and gestational ROS events, with the inhibitory effects on growth from ROS events lasting up to three years post-partum. Further, we describe the simultaneous entombment of 52 muskoxen in ice during a Chukchi Sea winter tsunami (ivuniq in Iñupiat), and link rapid freezing to entrapment of Arctic whales and otters. Our results illustrate how once unusual, but increasingly frequent Arctic weather events affect some cold-adapted mammals, and suggest that an understanding of species responses to a changing Arctic can be enhanced by coalescing groundwork, rare events, and insights from local people.
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10
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Sub-lethal effects of energy development on a migratory mammal—The enigma of North American pronghorn. Glob Ecol Conserv 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2016.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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11
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Marshall HH, Sanderson JL, Mwanghuya F, Businge R, Kyabulima S, Hares MC, Inzani E, Kalema-Zikusoka G, Mwesige K, Thompson FJ, Vitikainen EIK, Cant MA. Variable ecological conditions promote male helping by changing banded mongoose group composition. Behav Ecol 2016; 27:978-987. [PMID: 27418750 PMCID: PMC4943108 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 12/28/2015] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecological conditions are expected to have an important influence on individuals' investment in cooperative care. However, the nature of their effects is unclear: both favorable and unfavorable conditions have been found to promote helping behavior. Recent studies provide a possible explanation for these conflicting results by suggesting that increased ecological variability, rather than changes in mean conditions, promote cooperative care. However, no study has tested whether increased ecological variability promotes individual-level helping behavior or the mechanisms involved. We test this hypothesis in a long-term study population of the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose, Mungos mungo, using 14 years of behavioral and meteorological data to explore how the mean and variability of ecological conditions influence individual behavior, body condition, and survival. Female body condition was more sensitive to changes in rainfall leading to poorer female survival and pronounced male-biased group compositions after periods of high rainfall variability. After such periods, older males invested more in helping behavior, potentially because they had fewer mating opportunities. These results provide the first empirical evidence for increased individual helping effort in more variable ecological conditions and suggest this arises because of individual differences in the effect of ecological conditions on body condition and survival, and the knock-on effect on social group composition. Individual differences in sensitivity to environmental variability, and the impacts this has on the internal structure and composition of animal groups, can exert a strong influence on the evolution and maintenance of social behaviors, such as cooperative care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harry H Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Jennifer L Sanderson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Francis Mwanghuya
- Banded Mongoose Research Project , Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kasese , Uganda
| | - Robert Businge
- Banded Mongoose Research Project , Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kasese , Uganda
| | - Solomon Kyabulima
- Banded Mongoose Research Project , Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kasese , Uganda
| | - Michelle C Hares
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Emma Inzani
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | | | - Kenneth Mwesige
- Banded Mongoose Research Project , Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kasese , Uganda
| | - Faye J Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Emma I K Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
| | - Michael A Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus , Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE , UK
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