The “minimal boundary curve for endothermy” as a predictor of heterothermy in mammals and birds: a review

According to the concept of the “minimal boundary curve for endothermy”, mammals and birds with a basal metabolic rate (BMR) that falls below the curve are obligate heterotherms and must enter torpor. We examined the reliability of the boundary curve (on a double log plot transformed to a line) for predicting torpor as a function of body mass and BMR for birds and several groups of mammals. The boundary line correctly predicted heterothermy in 87.5% of marsupials (n = 64), 94% of bats (n = 85) and 82.3% of rodents (n = 157). Our analysis shows that the boundary line is not a reliable predictor for use of torpor. A discriminate analysis using body mass and BMR had a similar predictive power as the boundary line. However, there are sufficient exceptions to both methods of analysis to suggest that the relationship between body mass, BMR and heterothermy is not a causal one. Some homeothermic birds (e.g. silvereyes) and rodents (e.g. hopping mice) fall below the boundary line, and there are many examples of heterothermic species that fall above the boundary line. For marsupials and bats, but not for rodents, there was a highly significant phylogenetic pattern for heterothermy, suggesting that taxonomic affiliation is the biggest determinant of heterothermy for these mammalian groups. For rodents, heterothermic species had lower BMRs than homeothermic species. Low BMR and use of torpor both contribute to reducing energy expenditure and both physiological traits appear to be a response to the same selective pressure of fluctuating food supply, increasing fitness in endothermic species that are constrained by limited energy availability. Both the minimal boundary line and discriminate analysis were of little value for predicting the use of daily torpor or hibernation in heterotherms, presumably as both daily torpor and hibernation are precisely controlled processes, not an inability to thermoregulate

Factors influencing overnight loss of body mass in the communal roosts of a social bird

1. Communal roosting behaviour in birds is hypothesized to reduce the risk of starvation by lowering the energetic expenditure required to survive the night. However, the metabolic benefit gained is likely to depend on various factors, including an individual's position within the roost. 2. The long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus L. is a social species that lives in flocks during the non-breeding season, forming linear roosting huddles in which individuals compete to avoid occupying the peripheral positions at either end of the roost. Using observations of 18 temporarily captive flocks of long-tailed tits, we examine the effects of position and other factors on the mass lost during roosting. 3. We found that, on average, long-tailed tits lost about 9% of their body mass overnight, and that individuals occupying the peripheral positions in a roost lost significantly more mass than those occupying inner positions. 4. Overnight mass loss was related to minimum temperature, being greatest at 4 degrees C and decreasing at higher and lower temperatures. This result suggests that long-tailed tits may use facultative nocturnal hypothermia to reduce energetic costs at low ambient temperature. Mass loss also tended to increase with group size, perhaps because of the greater competition for inner positions in larger flocks, although we have no direct evidence for this. Mass loss was also positively correlated with mass when going to roost, and males lost marginally more mass than females. 5. There was no evidence that individuals strategically adjusted their daily mass when going to roost in relation to their likely roosting position even though outer positions are consistently and therefore predictably occupied by the same individuals on successive nights. 6. We conclude that long-tailed tits mitigate the costs of surviving the night by roosting communally, but the benefits gained vary in relation to position within the roost, explaining previous observations of competitive interactions during roost formation. 7. The benefit derived from communal behaviour is likely to vary among individuals and the degree of conflict over these benefits is likely to depend on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors

Conservation planning for species recovery under the Endangered Species Act: A case study with the Northern Spotted Owl.

The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1990. We applied modern spatial conservation theory and models to evaluate several candidate critical habitat networks, and sought an efficient conservation solution that encompassed the highest value lands for spotted owl recovery rather than maximizing the total area of potential critical habitat. We created a map of relative habitat suitability, which served as input to the spatial conservation prioritization program Zonation. We used the spatially-explicit individual-based population model HexSim to estimate and compare simulated spotted owl population outcomes among a suite of candidate critical habitat networks that varied in size and spatial arrangement under alternative scenarios of future habitat suitability and barred owl (S. varia) effects. We evaluated simulated spotted owl population outcomes, including total population size, and extinction and quasi-extinction likelihoods for 108 combinations of candidate critical habitat networks by habitat change by barred owl scenarios, both range-wide and within 11 distinct portions of the owl's range. Barred owl encounter rates and the amount and suitability of habitat had substantial effects on simulated spotted owl populations. When barred owl encounter rates were high, changes in the amount and suitability of habitat had minimal impacts on population performance. Under lowered barred owl encounter rates, candidate critical habitat networks that included most existing high suitability habitat supported a high likelihood of long-term population persistence. Barred owls are currently the primary driving force behind poor population performance of NSOs; however, our models demonstrated that a sufficient area of high suitability habitat remains essential for recovery when effects of barred owls can be reduced. The modeling approach we employed is sufficiently flexible to incorporate new information about spotted owls as it becomes available and could likely be applied to conservation planning for other species