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Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape

Predicting the effects of global climate change on species interactions has remained difficult because there is a spatiotemporal mismatch between regional climate models and microclimates experienced by organisms. We evaluated resource selection in a predominant ectothermic predator using a modeling...

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Autores principales: George, Andrew D., Connette, Grant M., Thompson, Frank R., Faaborg, John
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696430/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29187989
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3440
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author George, Andrew D.
Connette, Grant M.
Thompson, Frank R.
Faaborg, John
author_facet George, Andrew D.
Connette, Grant M.
Thompson, Frank R.
Faaborg, John
author_sort George, Andrew D.
collection PubMed
description Predicting the effects of global climate change on species interactions has remained difficult because there is a spatiotemporal mismatch between regional climate models and microclimates experienced by organisms. We evaluated resource selection in a predominant ectothermic predator using a modeling approach that permitted us to assess the importance of habitat structure and local real‐time air temperatures within the same modeling framework. We radio‐tracked 53 western ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) from 2010 to 2013 in central Missouri, USA, at study sites where this species has previously been linked to prey population demographics. We used Bayesian discrete choice models within an information theoretic framework to evaluate the seasonal effects of fine‐scale vegetation structure and thermal conditions on ratsnake resource selection. Ratsnake resource selection was influenced most by canopy cover, canopy cover heterogeneity, understory cover, and air temperature heterogeneity. Ratsnakes generally preferred habitats with greater canopy heterogeneity early in the active season, and greater temperature heterogeneity later in the season. This seasonal shift potentially reflects differences in resource requirements and thermoregulation behavior. Predicted patterns of space use indicate that ratsnakes preferentially selected open habitats in spring and early summer and forest–field edges throughout the active season. Our results show that downscaled temperature models can be used to enhance our understanding of animal resource selection at scales that can be addressed by managers. We suggest that conservation of snakes or their prey in a changing climate will require consideration of fine‐scale interactions between local air temperatures and habitat structure.
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spelling pubmed-56964302017-11-29 Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape George, Andrew D. Connette, Grant M. Thompson, Frank R. Faaborg, John Ecol Evol Original Research Predicting the effects of global climate change on species interactions has remained difficult because there is a spatiotemporal mismatch between regional climate models and microclimates experienced by organisms. We evaluated resource selection in a predominant ectothermic predator using a modeling approach that permitted us to assess the importance of habitat structure and local real‐time air temperatures within the same modeling framework. We radio‐tracked 53 western ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) from 2010 to 2013 in central Missouri, USA, at study sites where this species has previously been linked to prey population demographics. We used Bayesian discrete choice models within an information theoretic framework to evaluate the seasonal effects of fine‐scale vegetation structure and thermal conditions on ratsnake resource selection. Ratsnake resource selection was influenced most by canopy cover, canopy cover heterogeneity, understory cover, and air temperature heterogeneity. Ratsnakes generally preferred habitats with greater canopy heterogeneity early in the active season, and greater temperature heterogeneity later in the season. This seasonal shift potentially reflects differences in resource requirements and thermoregulation behavior. Predicted patterns of space use indicate that ratsnakes preferentially selected open habitats in spring and early summer and forest–field edges throughout the active season. Our results show that downscaled temperature models can be used to enhance our understanding of animal resource selection at scales that can be addressed by managers. We suggest that conservation of snakes or their prey in a changing climate will require consideration of fine‐scale interactions between local air temperatures and habitat structure. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017-10-12 /pmc/articles/PMC5696430/ /pubmed/29187989 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3440 Text en © 2017 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
George, Andrew D.
Connette, Grant M.
Thompson, Frank R.
Faaborg, John
Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
title Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
title_full Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
title_fullStr Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
title_full_unstemmed Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
title_short Resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
title_sort resource selection by an ectothermic predator in a dynamic thermal landscape
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696430/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29187989
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3440
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