Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity
Abstract To persist in seasonal environments, animals track, exploit, and store energy when food is plentiful. Seasonal changes in plant phenology that are predictable allow animals to track abundant food resources. However, little is known about how animals use and benefit from ephemeral and unpred...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Ecosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70080 |
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| author | Samantha P. H. Dwinnell Larissa T. Beumer René van derWal Steve D. Albon Åshild Ø. Pedersen Øystein Holand Brage B. Hansen R. Justin Irvine Erik Ropstad Vebjørn Veiberg Leif Egil Loe |
| author_facet | Samantha P. H. Dwinnell Larissa T. Beumer René van derWal Steve D. Albon Åshild Ø. Pedersen Øystein Holand Brage B. Hansen R. Justin Irvine Erik Ropstad Vebjørn Veiberg Leif Egil Loe |
| author_sort | Samantha P. H. Dwinnell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract To persist in seasonal environments, animals track, exploit, and store energy when food is plentiful. Seasonal changes in plant phenology that are predictable allow animals to track abundant food resources. However, little is known about how animals use and benefit from ephemeral and unpredictable food pulses during times when food is scarce. Climate change is altering the timing, abundance, and spatial distribution of food releases, emphasizing the ongoing need for understanding how unseasonal weather conditions influence access to food. Using 12 years of GPS‐location data and annual measures of body mass in 72 adult female Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), we tested whether individuals with greater use of nutritionally beneficial resource pulses in autumn and early winter are heavier going into parturition in spring. Additionally, we evaluated how stochastic weather conditions influence the use of food resources. Reindeer that foraged most in marshes during autumn and early winter gained a positive carryover effect of up to 5 kg heavier body mass in late winter, with previously demonstrated benefits to both survival and reproduction. Marsh use was rare, brief, and intense, which is the expected response to a pulsed resource. The extent to which marshes were used varied greatly among years and was associated with stochastic mild spells that relaxed constraints of snow depth for a few days. Compared with other habitats used, marshes offered superior quantity and quality of belowground plant biomass that may be accessed more easily under milder autumn and winter conditions. Our findings demonstrate the individual benefits of exploiting stochastic food pulses and showcase how resource tracking during periods of food scarcity may be a behavioral trait that could enhance population resilience in a rapidly warming climate. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ea803f287d6244f88e646691de5a395f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj-art-ea803f287d6244f88e646691de5a395f2025-01-27T14:51:34ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252024-12-011512n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.70080Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcitySamantha P. H. Dwinnell0Larissa T. Beumer1René van derWal2Steve D. Albon3Åshild Ø. Pedersen4Øystein Holand5Brage B. Hansen6R. Justin Irvine7Erik Ropstad8Vebjørn Veiberg9Leif Egil Loe10Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NorwayThe University Centre in Svalbard Longyearbyen NorwayDepartment of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala SwedenThe James Hutton Institute Aberdeen UKNorwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre Tromsø NorwayFaculty of Life Sciences, Department of Animal and Aquaculture Science Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NorwayDepartment of Terrestrial Ecology Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Trondheim NorwayFrankfurt Zoological Society Addis Ababa EthiopiaFaculty of Veterinary Science Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NorwayDepartment of Terrestrial Ecology Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Trondheim NorwayFaculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences Ås NorwayAbstract To persist in seasonal environments, animals track, exploit, and store energy when food is plentiful. Seasonal changes in plant phenology that are predictable allow animals to track abundant food resources. However, little is known about how animals use and benefit from ephemeral and unpredictable food pulses during times when food is scarce. Climate change is altering the timing, abundance, and spatial distribution of food releases, emphasizing the ongoing need for understanding how unseasonal weather conditions influence access to food. Using 12 years of GPS‐location data and annual measures of body mass in 72 adult female Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus), we tested whether individuals with greater use of nutritionally beneficial resource pulses in autumn and early winter are heavier going into parturition in spring. Additionally, we evaluated how stochastic weather conditions influence the use of food resources. Reindeer that foraged most in marshes during autumn and early winter gained a positive carryover effect of up to 5 kg heavier body mass in late winter, with previously demonstrated benefits to both survival and reproduction. Marsh use was rare, brief, and intense, which is the expected response to a pulsed resource. The extent to which marshes were used varied greatly among years and was associated with stochastic mild spells that relaxed constraints of snow depth for a few days. Compared with other habitats used, marshes offered superior quantity and quality of belowground plant biomass that may be accessed more easily under milder autumn and winter conditions. Our findings demonstrate the individual benefits of exploiting stochastic food pulses and showcase how resource tracking during periods of food scarcity may be a behavioral trait that could enhance population resilience in a rapidly warming climate.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70080Arcticbody masscarryover effectsclimate changefitness‐related traithabitat selection |
| spellingShingle | Samantha P. H. Dwinnell Larissa T. Beumer René van derWal Steve D. Albon Åshild Ø. Pedersen Øystein Holand Brage B. Hansen R. Justin Irvine Erik Ropstad Vebjørn Veiberg Leif Egil Loe Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity Ecosphere Arctic body mass carryover effects climate change fitness‐related trait habitat selection |
| title | Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity |
| title_full | Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity |
| title_fullStr | Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity |
| title_short | Get it while it's hot: Benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity |
| title_sort | get it while it s hot benefits of a large herbivore exploiting stochastic resource pulses in a time of food scarcity |
| topic | Arctic body mass carryover effects climate change fitness‐related trait habitat selection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70080 |
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