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dc.contributor.authorEvans, Alina L.
dc.contributor.authorSingh, N.J.
dc.contributor.authorFriebe, A.
dc.contributor.authorArnemo, Jon Martin
dc.contributor.authorLaske, T.G.
dc.contributor.authorFröbert, O.
dc.contributor.authorSwenson, Jon E.
dc.contributor.authorBlanc, S.
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-02T08:43:29Z
dc.date.available2016-03-02T08:43:29Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.identifier.citationEvans, A., Singh, N. J., Friebe, A., Arnemo, J. M., Laske, T., Fröbert, O., . . . Blanc, S. (2016). Drivers of hibernation in the brown bear. Frontiers in Zoology, 13(7). doi: 10.1186/s12983-016-0140-6nb_NO
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11250/2381139
dc.description.abstractBackground: Hibernation has been a key area of research for several decades, essentially in small mammals in the laboratory, yet we know very little about what triggers or ends it in the wild. Do climatic factors, an internal biological clock, or physiological processes dominate? Using state-of-the-art tracking and monitoring technology on fourteen free-ranging brown bears over three winters, we recorded movement, heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), body temperature (Tb), physical activity, ambient temperature (TA), and snow depth to identify the drivers of the start and end of hibernation. We used behavioral change point analyses to estimate the start and end of hibernation and convergent cross mapping to identify the causal interactions between the ecological and physiological variables over time. Results: To our knowledge, we have built the first chronology of both ecological and physiological events from before the start to the end of hibernation in the field. Activity, HR, and Tb started to drop slowly several weeks before den entry. Bears entered the den when snow arrived and when ambient temperature reached 0 °C. HRV, taken as a proxy of sympathetic nervous system activity, dropped dramatically once the bear entered the den. This indirectly suggests that denning is tightly coupled to metabolic suppression. During arousal, the unexpected early rise in Tb (two months before den exit) was driven by TA, but was independent of HRV. The difference between Tb and TA decreased gradually suggesting that bears were not thermoconforming. HRV increased only three weeks before exit, indicating that late activation of the sympathetic nervous system likely finalized restoration of euthermic metabolism. Interestingly, it was not until TA reached the presumed lower critical temperature, likely indicating that the bears were seeking thermoneutrality, that they exited the den. Conclusions: We conclude that brown bear hibernation was initiated primarily by environmental cues, but terminated by physiological cues.nb_NO
dc.language.isoengnb_NO
dc.publisherFrontiers in zoologynb_NO
dc.subjectbody temperaturenb_NO
dc.subjectdenning ecologynb_NO
dc.subjectmetabolic inhibitionnb_NO
dc.subjectphysiological ecologynb_NO
dc.subjectthermoregulationnb_NO
dc.titleDrivers of hibernation in the brown bearnb_NO
dc.typeJournal articlenb_NO
dc.typePeer reviewednb_NO
dc.subject.nsiVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480nb_NO
dc.source.volume13nb_NO
dc.source.journalFrontiers in Zoologynb_NO
dc.source.issue7nb_NO
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/s12983-016-0140-6


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