SUPPLEMENT

Post-wildfire physiological ecology of an Australian microbat

1,3Anna C. Doty, 1Clare Stawski, 2Brad S. Law and 1Fritz Geiser

1Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351

2Forest Science Unit, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Parramatta 2124

3Corresponding author:

October 2013 bats are not included in the manuscript due to climatic differences between autumn and spring seasons, however their inclusion produces statistically similar results as shown in the table below.

Table 1Climatic variables in 2013 and 2015.

2013 (May-June) / 2015 (May-June) / 2013 (October) / ANOVA
N=28 / N=22 / N=10 / (p-value)
Mean daily Ta (°C) / 12.7±3.0a / 10.8±2.8a / 19.3±3.4b / 0.001
Min Ta (°C) / 8.5±3.4a / 6.8±3.9a / 12.0±5.3b / 0.004
Max Ta (°C) / 18.8±4.6a / 16.8±2.8a / 26.5±4.9b / 0.001
Range (°C) / 10.3±4.6a / 10.1±4.8a / 14.5±2.5b / 0.03
Precipitation (mm/day) / 2.5±6.8a / 0.2±0.63a / 2.1±5.4a / 0.5

Mean values ± S.D for N= number of days. A p-value denotes significant differences between variables as tested by ANOVA. Different superscripts indicate differences determined by a post hoc test.

Table 2 Physiological variables of free-ranging Nyctophilusgeoffroyi from 2013 and 2015.

With October / Without October / With October / Without October
2013 / n / N / 2013 / n / N / 2015 / n / N / LME (p-value) / LME (p-value)
Day TBD (h) / 1.4±0.3 / 6 / 14 / 2.4±1.0 / 4 / 13 / 2.7±1.6 / 6 / 9 / 0.3 / 0.3
TBD (all bouts) (h) / 10.9±12.0 / 6 / 81 / 11.8±12.5 / 4 / 65 / 24.1±23.5 / 6 / 46 / 0.002 / 0.01
Day normothermia duration (h) / 4.6±3.6 / 6 / 28 / 2.6±1.5 / 4 / 17 / 3.3±1.3 / 6 / 11 / 0.08 / 0.2
Night normothermia duration (h) / 8.7±4.7 / 6 / 45 / 8.7±4.6 / 4 / 35 / 2.5±1.5 / 6 / 26 / 0.0075 / 0.006
Min Tskin per torpor bout (°C) / 14.6±5.5 / 6 / 81 / 12.7±4.8 / 4 / 65 / 12.3±5.0 / 7 / 45 / 0.09 / 0.5
Mean Tskin per torpor bout (°C) / 19.3±4.7 / 6 / 81 / 18.2±4.9 / 4 / 65 / 16.7±4.8 / 7 / 45 / 0.04 / 0.2

Mean values for all bats ± S.D. (for n= number of bats and N= number of observations) for listed variables in both 2013 when pooling October 2013 bats with May-June 2013 (with October), when excluding October 2013 bats and only assessing May-June 2013 bats (without October) and 2015.A linear mixed effect model (LME) was used to assess differences in the listed physiological variables while accounting for Ta as a covariate and the individual as a random effect. The p-value denotes significant differences (bold) between 2013 and 2015 for the given variable.

Table 3 Torpor entry and rewarming times of free-ranging Nyctophilousgeoffroyifrom 2013 and 2015.

Torpor entry / Torpor rewarming
n / N / Average Time (h) / z / r / P / Average Time (h) / n / N / z / r / P
With October 2013 / Peak 1 / 6 / 44 / 5:39±2:19 / 0.38 / 0.98 / <0.01 / 5:19±1:09 / 6 / 21 / 0.84 / 0.99 / <0.01
Peak 2 / 6 / 15 / 15:17±1:00 / 0.20 / 0.98 / <0.01 / 11:48±2:16 / 6 / 19 / 1.13 / 0.99 / <0.01
Peak 3 / 6 / 24 / 19:38±2:00 / 0.022 / 0.99 / <0.01 / 17:52±1:06 / 6 / 43 / 1.13 / 0.99 / <0.01
Without October 2013 / Peak 1 / 4 / 36 / 5:56±2:14 / 0.020 / 0.84 / <0.01 / 5:08±0:56 / 4 / 13 / 1.12 / 0.99 / <0.01
Peak 2 / 4 / 14 / 15:19±1:00 / 0.87 / 0.97 / <0.01 / 12:55±1:47 / 4 / 16 / 2.05 / 0.99 / <0.01
Peak 3 / 4 / 16 / 19:27±1:59 / 1.35 / 0.88 / <0.01 / 17:41±1:02 / 4 / 37 / 2.3 / 0.99 / <0.01
2015 / Peak 1 / 7 / 13 / 13:12±2:00 / 0.34 / 0.88 / <0.01 / 11:54±2:11 / 7 / 14 / 1.59 / 0.86 / <0.01
Peak 2 / 7 / 28 / 19:52±1:31 / 0.64 / 0.93 / <0.01 / 17:52±1:34 / 7 / 26 / 0.61 / 0.92 / <0.01

Mean values for all bats ± S.D. (for n= number of bats and N= number of observations) for listed variables when pooling October 2013 bats with May-June 2013 (with October), when excluding October 2013 bats and only assessing May-June 2013 bats (without October) and 2015.Significance of torpor entry and rewarming times were calculated using a Rayleigh test, and the p-value denotes if the arousal or rewarming times were significantly clustered (bold). Differences in entry and rewarming times between years were evaluated using a Watson-Williams test. For torpor entry times, peak 2 from 2013 and peak 1 from 2015 significantly differed both with (F1,26=14.25, P<0.001) and without (F1,25=9.07, P<0.01) October bats. For torpor rewarming times, peak 2 from 2013 and peak 1 from 2015 significantly differed when including (F1,50=437.51, P<0.001), but not when excluding, October bats.

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Supplement – Post wildfire physiological ecology of an Australian microbat