Abstract
1. The Macedonian mouse (Mus macedonicus), a small (15 g) mesic rodent distributed in the Mediterranean ecosystem, is a species which invades post fire habitats in the first stages of habitat recovery. 2. In order to assess the seasonal acclimatization of thermoregulatory and metabolic mechanisms, the response of several physiological variables to photoperiod manipulations under a constant T(a) were studied. 3. Our results show that mice acclimated to a short photoperiod increased their resistance to cold, while acclimation to a long photoperiod increased their resistance to high T(a)s and the effectiveness of their thermoregulatory mechanisms. Body mass increased in mice acclimated to a short photoperiod. We conclude that photoperiod is an important environmental cue for seasonal acclimatization of thermoregulatory and metabolic mechanisms in this species.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 279-286 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Thermal Biology |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1999 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was partly supported by a grant from the BMFT and MOSA and from common research fund, University of Haifa and Technion, whom we thank.
Keywords
- Allometric equations
- Body mass
- Coexistence
- Conductance
- Daily rhythms
- Feces production
- Food consumption
- Gross energy intake
- Mediterranean ecosystem
- Metabolic rates
- Mus
- Nonshivering thermogenesis
- Opportunists
- Oxygen consumption
- Photoperiod
- Post-tire habitat
- Seasonal acclimatization
- Thermoregulation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Biochemistry
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
- Developmental Biology