The Relative Importance of Behavioral and Physiological Adjustments Controlling Body Temperature in Terrestrial Ectotherms

A series of simple heat-transfer models (termed the basic, conduction, physiological, and wet-skin models) is derived to examine a large number of behavioral and physiological mechanisms that are used by terrestrial ectotherms to control body temperature (Tb; table 1). The models reaffirm two generalizations: (1) in environments where solar radiation is available, behavioral mechanisms may provide a range of Tb's that is many times greater than the range in Tb's that results from physiological adjustments; and (2) among behavioral mechanisms, the times of seasonal and daily activity appear to be the most critical in determining Tb. Furthermore, microhabitat selection is more important than postural adjustments for controlling Tb. The models calculate Tb as the sum of air temperature (Ta) and the body-air temperature difference (Td). The direct effects of body size are expressed as functions of Td. Many behavioral mechanisms can then be expressed as some fraction of Td. The models (eqs. 3, 6, 8, 11), in combination with table 2 and the Smithsonian tables (List 1966), allow one to quickly estimate the effects of many environmental variables and behavioral and physiological mechanisms on Tb.

[1]  R. Stevenson.  Body Size and Limits to the Daily Range of Body Temperature in Terrestrial Ectotherms , 1985, The American Naturalist.

[2]  D. M. Gates,et al.  Wind-tunnel modelling of convection of heat between air and broad leaves of plants , 1968 .

[3]  L. Milne,et al.  Temperature and life. , 1949, Scientific American.

[4]  G. S. Bakken.  A heat transfer analysis of animals: unifying concepts and the application of metabolism chamber data to field ecology. , 1976, Journal of theoretical biology.

[5]  Wolfgang Wieser,et al.  Effects of Temperature on Ectothermic Organisms , 1973, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[6]  Dr. Eric B. Edney.  Water Balance in Land Arthropods , 1977, Zoophysiology and Ecology.

[7]  J. Mitchell,et al.  Heat transfer from spheres and other animal forms. , 1976, Biophysical journal.

[8]  D. Bradford,et al.  Thermoregulation of Lizards and Toads at High Altitudes in Peru , 1976 .

[9]  W. B. Watt.  ADAPTIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF PIGMENT POLYMORPHISMS IN COLIAS BUTTERFLIES. I. VARIATION OF MELANIN PIGMENT IN RELATION TO THERMOREGULATION , 1968, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution.

[10]  T. Casey,et al.  Caterpillar Setae: Insulation for an Ectotherm , 1981, Science.

[11]  A. Muth.  Thermoregulatory postures and orientation to the Sun: a mechanistic evaluation for the zebra-tailed lizard, Callisaurus draconoides , 1977 .

[12]  J. M. Coulson,et al.  Heat Transfer , 2018, Finite Element Method for Solids and Structures.

[13]  K. S. Norris.  Color adaptation in desert reptiles and its thermal relationships , 1967 .

[14]  C. Tracy,et al.  Thermal Balance and Prey Availability: Bases for a Model Relating Web‐Site Characteristics to Spider Reproductive Success , 1975 .

[15]  T. Casey,et al.  OXYGEN CONSUMPTION OF MOTHS DURING REST, PRE-FLIGHT WARM-UP, AND FLIGHT IN RELATION TO BODY SIZE AND WING MORPHOLOGY , 1978 .

[16]  J D Hardy,et al.  Thermal radiation exchange of the human by partitional calorimetry. , 1967, Journal of applied physiology.

[17]  G. Bartholomew.  Body temperature and energy metabolism , 1982 .

[18]  R. Huey,et al.  Seasonal Variation in Thermoregulatory Behavior and Body Temperature of Diurnal Kalahari Lizards , 1977 .

[19]  John W. Mitchell,et al.  Heat Transfer From Spheres in the Naturally Turbulent, Outdoor Environment , 1976 .

[20]  Malcolm S. Gordon,et al.  Animal Physiology: Principles and Adaptations , 1972 .

[21]  W. Porter,et al.  3. BIOPHYSICAL ANALYSES OF ENERGETICS, TIME-SPACE UTILIZATION, AND DISTRIBUTIONAL LIMITS , 1983 .

[22]  D. M. Gates,et al.  The Energy Budget of a Lizard on a Tree Trunk , 1967 .

[23]  C. Tracy.  A Model of the Dynamic Exchanges of Water and Energy between a Terrestrial Amphibian and Its Environment , 1976 .

[24]  R. Stevenson,et al.  ROLE OF BODY TEMPERATURE IN THE SEASONALITY OF DAILY ACTIVITY IN TENEBRIONID BEETLES OF EASTERN WASHINGTON , 1982 .

[25]  D. Henning.  Metabolism , 1972, Introduction to a Phenomenology of Life.

[26]  Carl Gans,et al.  Biology of the Reptilia , 1969 .

[27]  M. Budyko,et al.  Climate and life , 1975 .

[28]  C. Tracy,et al.  A Biophysical Analysis of Daily and Seasonal Utilization of Climate Space by a Montane Snake , 1982 .

[29]  W. Porter.  Solar Radiation through the Living Body Walls of Vertebrates with Emphasis on Desert Reptiles , 1967 .

[30]  Z. Waloff.  Field studies on solitary and transiens desert locusts in the Red Sea area. , 1963 .

[31]  R. Huey,et al.  Errors resulting from linear approximations in energy balance equations , 1984 .

[32]  M. Kleiber.  Body size, conductance for animal heat flow and Newton's law of cooling. , 1972, Journal of theoretical biology.

[33]  G. Trewartha.  An introduction to climate. , 1980 .

[34]  W. Porter,et al.  Behavioral Implications of Mechanistic Ecology II: the African Rainbow Lizard, Agama agama , 1979 .

[35]  J. E. Heath,et al.  Temperature regulation and diurnal activity in horned lizards , 1966 .

[36]  William W. Milstead.  Lizard Ecology a Symposium , 1967 .

[37]  E. McCullough,et al.  Computing Clear Day Solar Radiation Spectra for the Terrestrial Ecological Environment , 1971 .

[38]  D. M. Gates,et al.  THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIA OF ANIMALS WITH ENVIRONMENT , 1969 .

[39]  David Kut,et al.  PROPERTIES OF AIR , 1970 .

[40]  R. B. Cowles.  Additional Implications of Reptilian Sensitivity to High Temperatures , 1940, The American Naturalist.

[41]  L. T. Wasserthal.  The rôle of butterfly wings in regulation of body temperature , 1975 .

[42]  G. A. BULL,et al.  Smithsonian Meteorological Tables , 1952, Nature.

[43]  R. H. Shaw.  The Climate Near the Ground , 1957 .