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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Activity re-assignment and microclimate selection of free-living Arabian oryx: Responses that could minimise the effects of climate change on homeostasis?
Zoology, Volume 115, No. 6, Year 2012
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Description
Predicting whether behaviour could buffer the effects of climate change on long-lived mammals requires a better understanding of the long-term behavioural responses of mammals to environmental stress. Using biologging, we measured locomotor activity and microclimate selection, over eight months, in five Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) living free in a Saudi Arabian desert. The oryx displayed seasonal flexibility in activity patterns, shifting from a continuous 24-h activity pattern with crepuscular peaks in cooler months to a predominantly nocturnal activity pattern during the hottest months, without reducing the total 24-h activity level. The proportion of total 24-h activity that occurred during daylight hours was just 29 ± 8% during the hottest months, versus 53 ± 8% (mean ± SD, n=5 oryx) in the other months. The attenuation in diurnal activity levels during the hot months was accompanied by the selection of cooler microclimates, presumably via shade seeking, during the heat of the day. Analysis of miniature black globe (miniglobe) temperature from a remote sensor on the collar of two female animals revealed that oryx selected microclimates cooler than the microclimates in direct sun at higher environmental heat loads across all periods, but with enhanced efficiency during the dry periods. We have quantified activity re-assignment and microclimate selection as responses to hot arid conditions in a free-living artiodactyl. Such flexible behavioural processes may act to buffer the adverse effects of the progressively hotter and drier conditions predicted to occur with climate change. © 2012 Elsevier GmbH.
Authors & Co-Authors
Hetem, Robyn Sheila
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Strauss, Willem Maartin
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Saudi Arabia, Taif
National Wildlife Research Center
South Africa, Pretoria
University of South Africa
Fick, Linda
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Maloney, Shane K.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Australia, Perth
The University of Western Australia
Meyer, L. C.R.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Shobrak, Mohammed Yaslam
Saudi Arabia, Taif
National Wildlife Research Center
Saudi Arabia, Taif
Taif University
Fuller, Andrea
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Mitchell, Duncan
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Statistics
Citations: 61
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.zool.2012.04.005
ISSN:
09442006
Research Areas
Environmental
Participants Gender
Female