INVESTIGADORES
LUNA Facundo
artículos
Título:
Does acclimation to contrasting atmospheric humidities affect evaporative water loss in the South American subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum?
Autor/es:
BALDO MB; LUNA F; ANTENUCCI CD
Revista:
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY
Editorial:
ALLIANCE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP DIVISION ALLEN PRESS
Referencias:
Lugar: Lawrence; Año: 2016 vol. 95 p. 1312 - 1320
ISSN:
0022-2372
Resumen:
Water conservation is challenging forterrestrial life since water is continuously lost through respiration,excretion, and cutaneous evaporation. Total evaporative water loss (TEWL) is animportant component of the water budget. In general, TEWL is mainly determinedby biophysical mechanisms, such as ambient temperature (Ta) and humidity. However, it has also been suggestedthat TEWL can be actively regulated in the short term to confront environmentalconditions and be further modified by development and acclimation. Thus,regulation of TEWL might be complex, especially in semifossorial species, whichcontinuously meet contrasting conditions at the surface. We evaluated theinfluence of acclimation to different ambient humidities on TEWL and associatedmetabolic parameters in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum. We found that changing humidityacclimation conditions may not elicit modifications on TEWL. Both the watervapor?saturated burrows and the stability in TEWL at different humidities wouldlead to overheating problems at high ambient temperatures. Then, other forms ofheat loss such as dry conductance may be enhanced. Fossoriality apparentlyevolved as a way of surviving increasing aridity conditions; therefore, otherbehavioral adjustments might be employed to counteract the high humidity withinburrows.