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Arboreal Perch Properties and the Operative Temperature Experienced by Small Animals
Author(s) -
Bakken George S.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1941359
Subject(s) - perch , arboreal locomotion , operative temperature , environmental science , thermal , thermoregulation , biology , ecology , atmospheric sciences , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , meteorology , physics , habitat
The effects of perch properties on the thermal environment of small animals were explored by placing hollow electroformed copper lizard models on simulated tree trunks of varying properties. The operative temperatures (T e ) of models on perches were compared to reference models suspended away from the perch. Operative temperature increased with increasing perch diameter, decreasing heat storage capacity, and increasing absorption of solar radiation by the perch. Models on log perches measured T e values up to 12°C higher than the reference models. These results indicated that perch surface temperature and the heated thermal boundary layer of the perch were the primary factors increasing T e . Simulated thermoregulatory posture adjustments could affect T e by up to 6.5°. Movement from the sun to the shade side of 16+ cm diameter perches could change average T e by up to 18°. The thermal effects of sunlit aboveground perches should be explicitly considered in thermal energy budget models or thermal maps.