Optimal foraging behavior and the thermal neutral zone of Peromyscus leucopus during winter: A test using natural and controlled ambient temperatures

Justin R. Juliana, William A. Mitchell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Endotherms foraging at temperatures outside of their thermal neutral zone (TNZ) pay an increased energetic cost. We asked if thermally-induced changes in foraging costs influence quitting harvest rate (QHR) of mice. We predicted that mice foraging during the winter would have a higher QHR in more costly colder conditions. We conducted our study with wild caught Peromyscus leucopus in an enclosure located in West Terre Haute, Indiana. We assayed changes in QHR using the forager's giving up density (GUD), which is the amount of uneaten seeds reaming in a tray after foraging activity. Each night from January 12th to March 13th, we assigned 4 trays as "cold trays" (at ambient temperature), and 4 trays as "hot trays" (trays with a ceramic heat element that increased the temperatures of feeding trays ca. 10-15 °C). GUDs (and therfore QHRs) increased as a function of decreasing ambient temperature. Furthermore there was an interaction between tray temperature and ambient temperature; namely, on cool nights mice had lower GUDs in the "hot trays", but on warm nights mice had lower GUDs in the "cold trays". The TNZ for P. leucopus actively foraging during winter may be closer to the environmental average temperature than typically measured in the laboratory. Overall, these results support the idea that QHR is related to an animal's foraging in thermally challenged conditions. We present a unique way of measuring an animal's TNZ in the field using behavioral indicators.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)109-112
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Thermal Biology
Volume56
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Giving up density
  • Mice
  • Optimal foraging
  • Peromyscus leucopus
  • Quitting harvest rate
  • Temperature
  • Thermal neutral zone
  • Winter

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Physiology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • Developmental Biology

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