Elevated surface temperature depresses survival of banner-tailed kangaroo rats: will climate change cook a desert icon?

Modest increases in global temperature have been implicated in causing population extirpations and range shifts in taxa inhabiting colder environs and in ectotherms whose thermoregulation is more closely tied to environmental conditions. Many arid-adapted endotherms already experience conditions at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Oecologia Vol. 168; no. 1; pp. 257 - 268
Main Authors:	Moses, Martin R., Frey, Jennifer K., Roemer, Gary W.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Berlin/Heidelberg Springer 01-01-2012 Springer-Verlag Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Adaptation, Physiological Animals Arid environments Biomedical and Life Sciences Body Temperature Regulation Climate Change Climate models Deserts Dipodomys - physiology Dipodomys spectabilis Ecology Environmental conditions Fever GLOBAL CHANGE ECOLOGY Global change ecology - Original Paper Global temperature changes Global temperatures High temperature Hydrology/Water Resources Kangaroos Land surface temperature Life Sciences Modeling Models, Biological New Mexico Physiological aspects Physiology Plant Sciences Rats Rodents Seasons Stress (Psychology) Summer Surface temperature Survival Survival Rate Temperature Toy industry Water loss New Mexico North America Mexico, Chihuahuan Desert Biogeography Capture–recapture Heteromyidae Physiological limits Range shift Information theory
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Summary:	Modest increases in global temperature have been implicated in causing population extirpations and range shifts in taxa inhabiting colder environs and in ectotherms whose thermoregulation is more closely tied to environmental conditions. Many arid-adapted endotherms already experience conditions at their physiological limits, so it is conceivable that they could be similarly affected by warming temperatures. We explored how climatic variables might influence the apparent survival of the bannertailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis), a rodent endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert of North America and renowned for its behavioral and physiological adaptations to arid environments. Relative variable weight, strength of variable relationships, and other criteria indicated that summer, diurnal land surface temperature (SD_ LST) was the primary environmental driver of apparent survival in these arid-adapted rodents. Higher temperatures had a negative effect on apparent survival, which ranged from 0.15 (SE = 0.04) for subadults to 0.50 (SE = 0.07) for adults. Elevated SDJLST may negatively influence survival through multiple pathways, including increased water loss and energy expenditure that could lead to chronic stress and/or hyperthermia that could cause direct mortality. Land surface temperatures are predicted to increase by as much 6.5°C by 2099, reducing apparent survival of adults to ~0.15 in some regions of the species' range, possibly causing a shift in their distribution. The relationship between SD_ LST and survival suggests a mechanism whereby physiological tolerances are exceeded resulting in a reduction to individual fitness that may ultimately cause a shift in the species' range over time.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0029-8549 1432-1939
DOI:	10.1007/s00442-011-2073-2