Linking surface and subterranean climate: implications for the study of hibernating bats and other cave dwellers
Linking surface and subterranean climate: implications for the study of hibernating bats and other cave dwellers
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DOI：
10.1002/ecs2.3274
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发表时间：
2020-10-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Olson, Sarah H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
McClure, Meredith L.;Crowley, Daniel;Olson, Sarah H.
洞穴和其他地下特征为许多物种提供了独特的环境。洞穴小气候的重要性在温带地区尤为重要，在那里蝙蝠会季节性地利用洞穴冬眠。白鼻综合征（WNS）是一种真菌疾病，它摧毁了北美东部和中部冬眠的蝙蝠种群，它重新引起了人们对蝙蝠冬眠和冬眠条件的兴趣。最近的一篇综述综合了目前对洞穴气候学的认识，探讨了洞穴与地表气候的定性关系及其对冬眠适宜性的影响。然而，需要对蝙蝠冬眠的条件以及它们如何促进或介导WNS影响进行更定量的了解。我们收集了美国西部和加拿大各地洞穴和矿山的地下温度，以(1)量化年平均地表温度（MAST）与地下温度之间的假设关系，以及可测量的地点属性对其的影响；(2)使用随时可用的网格数据来预测和连续绘制洞穴和矿山中可能可用的温度范围。我们的分析支持定性预测，即地下冬季温度与MAST相关，远离地表的温度更温暖，变化更小，甚至在洞穴深处的温度往往低于MAST。其他场地属性（如地形、植被和降水）对地下温度的影响未被检测到。然后，我们利用冬季蝙蝠分布和偏好冬眠温度的知识来评估模型预测温度的合理性。我们的模型不可避免地简化了复杂的地下环境，并不打算解释地下温度的所有变化。相反，与仅依赖MAST相比，我们的结果为研究人员和管理人员提供了对潜在冬眠条件地理分布的改进的大范围估计。我们希望这些信息能够更好地支持对冬季蝙蝠分布的范围估计和对西部可能的WNS影响的预测。我们建议，我们的模型预测应该作为假设，进一步测试和完善，因为有更多的数据可用。
Caves and other subterranean features provide unique environments for many species. The importance of cave microclimate is particularly relevant at temperate latitudes where bats make seasonal use of caves for hibernation. White-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has devastated populations of hibernating bats across eastern and central North America, has brought renewed interest in bat hibernation and hibernaculum conditions. A recent review synthesized current understanding of cave climatology, exploring the qualitative relationship between cave and surface climate with implications for hibernaculum suitability. However, a more quantitative understanding of the conditions in which bats hibernate and how they may promote or mediate WNS impacts is required. We compiled subterranean temperatures from caves and mines across the western United States and Canada to (1) quantify the hypothesized relationship between mean annual surface temperature (MAST) and subterranean temperature and how it is influenced by measurable site attributes, and (2) use readily available gridded data to predict and continuously map the range of temperatures that may be available in caves and mines. Our analysis supports qualitative predictions that subterranean winter temperatures are correlated with MAST, that temperatures are warmer and less variable farther from the surface, and that even deep within-cave temperatures tend to be lower than MAST. Effects of other site attributes (e.g., topography, vegetation, and precipitation) on subterranean temperatures were not detected. We then assessed the plausibility of model-predicted temperatures using knowledge of winter bat distributions and preferred hibernaculum temperatures. Our model unavoidably simplifies complex subterranean environments and is not intended to explain all variability in subterranean temperatures. Rather, our results offer researchers and managers improved broad-scale estimates of the geographic distribution of potential hibernaculum conditions compared to reliance on MAST alone. We expect this information to better support range-scale estimation of winter bat distributions and projection of likely WNS impacts across the west. We suggest that our model predictions should serve as hypotheses to be further tested and refined as additional data become available.