Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/T001348/1
Hot Dogs: climate change impacts in an endothermic predator
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor R Woodroffe, Zoological Soc London Inst of Zoology, Insitute of Zoology
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor T Coulson, University of Oxford, Biology
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor CA Donnelly, University of Oxford, Statistics
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor R Wilson, Swansea University, College of Science
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor L Borger, Swansea University, Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- Zoological Soc London Inst of Zoology, Insitute of Zoology
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Panel C
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Ecosystem impacts
- Climate & Climate Change
- Behavioural modelling
- Environmental factors
- Foraging behaviour
- Population dynamics
- Predation
- Reproduction
- Behavioural Ecology
- Adaptation
- Anthropogenic pressures
- Biodiversity conservation
- Conservation management
- Extinction
- Conservation Ecology
- Extinction
- Habitat use
- Local adaptation
- Population dynamics
- Population modelling
- Predator-prey interactions
- Reproductive strategy
- Terrestrial populations
- Trophic relations
- Population Ecology
- Species response
- Terrestrial ecosystems
- Tropical ecosystems
- Ecosystem Scale Processes
- Abstract:
- Humans are devastating the world's wildlife, and the impacts of climate change are among the most pervasive. Even the most strictly enforced reserve cannot protect ecosystems from weather patterns that have been profoundly altered by the carbon emissions of human societies. Species unable to cope or adapt will go extinct. Without urgent action, climate change could help drive mass extinction on a scale not seen since the time of the dinosaurs. Climate change impacts on large carnivores may have particularly far-reaching effects. Predation affects not just prey numbers, but prey behaviour, in ways that can have cascading effects on entire ecosystems. But, as temperatures rise, the costs of pursuing prey rise too. Large-bodied predators struggle to dissipate the heat they generate by hunting. In hot weather they may hunt less effectively, endangering their own populations, and disrupting their impacts on other species. Our project will explore how climate change affects predators, and predation, by studying an endangered large carnivore, the African wild dog, across a range of climate settings. In this study system, we can address fundamental questions in ecology while also contributing to the conservation of an endangered species. We have 6 research questions: 1 How does hot weather impact individual wild dogs? We have already shown that wild dogs are more likely to die in hot weather. We shall now test the hypothesis that they eat less on hot days because too few hours are cool enough to hunt. Working at four study sites from the equable equator to the extremes of the Kalahari Desert, we shall fit cutting-edge tracking collars which use GPS, 3D accelerometers, and specialist software to characterise when and where wild dogs hunt and feed, 24hrs a day. We shall implant tiny temperature sensors under the skin of the same animals, to test whether wild dogs overheat on hot days, going hungry rather than hunting. 2 How might these changes in hunting behaviour impact wild dog numbers? We shall use our new insights, plus 75 site-years of data on births and deaths, to simulate wild dog populations using a state-of-the art computer model of wild dog energy budgets. We shall then project how wild dog numbers are likely to change as the climate warms. 3 Could wild dogs change their behaviour to cope with a warming climate? We will use our detailed data to test whether wild dogs respond to hot weather by hunting at night, in shaded habitat, or near water. We shall test whether these behaviours allow wild dogs to secure enough food on hot days and, using our model, whether they may prevent wild dog numbers from falling. 4 Might wild dogs evolve adaptations to hotter weather? Wild dogs have parti-coloured coats of white, brown and black fur; dark fur absorbs the sun's heat, but pale fur reflects it and might thus reduce over-heating. Among our collared wild dogs, we will test whether paler animals are less prone to overheating. We will also use museum specimens to test whether wild dogs are paler in hotter regions of Africa. Again, we will use our model to test whether such adaptation might prevent wild dog numbers from falling. 5 Do wild dogs kill different prey in hot weather? The large body size that leads wild dogs to overheat when running may be an even greater burden for prey that are larger still. We shall test whether wild dogs kill larger prey in hotter weather. 6 Can conservation mitigate climate change impacts? Using our model, we will predict whether routine conservation management (e.g. removing poachers' snares) might be enough to counter the impacts of climate change, or whether climate-change specific management (e.g. moving wild dogs to cooler areas) might be needed to avert extinction. Answering these questions will show how weather effects on individuals scale up to climate impacts on ecosystems, addressing fundamental questions in ecology and helping to inform global conservation efforts.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/T001348/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grant FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £493,845
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DI - Staff | DA - Estate Costs | DI - T&S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £65,357 | £126,681 | £55,406 | £196,416 | £16,471 | £33,511 |
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