Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity
Climate change threatens wildlife species, negatively affecting their fitness through environmental change, such as through increased severity of droughts and summer heatwaves. Wild boar (Sus scrofa), a species with limited physiological thermoregulation abilities, is potentially vulnerable to high...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.242208 |
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| author | Justine Güldenpfennig Niccolò Fattorini Miloš Ježek Kevin Morelle Tomasz Podgórski |
| author_facet | Justine Güldenpfennig Niccolò Fattorini Miloš Ježek Kevin Morelle Tomasz Podgórski |
| author_sort | Justine Güldenpfennig |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change threatens wildlife species, negatively affecting their fitness through environmental change, such as through increased severity of droughts and summer heatwaves. Wild boar (Sus scrofa), a species with limited physiological thermoregulation abilities, is potentially vulnerable to high temperatures during summer. Yet little is known about the behavioural reactions of this species to heat stress. Detailed understanding of wild boar behavioural adaptations to their environment might help understand their future population growth and change in the geographical range. We used multisensory collars on 24 individual wild boars in the Czech Republic, calculating the dynamic body acceleration as a proxy for energy expenditure to detect activity changes in response to high temperatures on two temporal scales (daily and seasonal) and during heatwaves. Our results revealed that overall, under higher temperatures, wild boars reduce their activity, unless it rained. Heatwave duration did not affect wild boar activity. We show that wild boars adapt their activity to weather conditions and highlight the importance of sufficient precipitation for thermoregulation in this species. This suggests that studies about climate change impacts on wildlife behaviour should consider not only rising temperatures but also shifts in rainfall patterns. Additionally, this research shows the potential of remote-sensing technologies to monitor wildlife behaviour, particularly in challenging observational scenarios, offering valuable insights into the behavioural responses of wildlife in the face of a changing climate. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-112e1f43e5f94c0cb6237212a474f381 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-112e1f43e5f94c0cb6237212a474f3812025-08-20T03:15:08ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032025-07-0112710.1098/rsos.242208Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activityJustine Güldenpfennig0Niccolò Fattorini1Miloš Ježek2Kevin Morelle3Tomasz Podgórski4Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Praha, Czech RepublicDepartment of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, ItalyDepartment of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Praha, Czech RepublicDepartment of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, GermanyDepartment of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Praha, Czech RepublicClimate change threatens wildlife species, negatively affecting their fitness through environmental change, such as through increased severity of droughts and summer heatwaves. Wild boar (Sus scrofa), a species with limited physiological thermoregulation abilities, is potentially vulnerable to high temperatures during summer. Yet little is known about the behavioural reactions of this species to heat stress. Detailed understanding of wild boar behavioural adaptations to their environment might help understand their future population growth and change in the geographical range. We used multisensory collars on 24 individual wild boars in the Czech Republic, calculating the dynamic body acceleration as a proxy for energy expenditure to detect activity changes in response to high temperatures on two temporal scales (daily and seasonal) and during heatwaves. Our results revealed that overall, under higher temperatures, wild boars reduce their activity, unless it rained. Heatwave duration did not affect wild boar activity. We show that wild boars adapt their activity to weather conditions and highlight the importance of sufficient precipitation for thermoregulation in this species. This suggests that studies about climate change impacts on wildlife behaviour should consider not only rising temperatures but also shifts in rainfall patterns. Additionally, this research shows the potential of remote-sensing technologies to monitor wildlife behaviour, particularly in challenging observational scenarios, offering valuable insights into the behavioural responses of wildlife in the face of a changing climate.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.242208behaviourbiologgingclimate changeheatSus scrofatelemetry |
| spellingShingle | Justine Güldenpfennig Niccolò Fattorini Miloš Ježek Kevin Morelle Tomasz Podgórski Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity Royal Society Open Science behaviour biologging climate change heat Sus scrofa telemetry |
| title | Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity |
| title_full | Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity |
| title_fullStr | Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity |
| title_short | Effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity |
| title_sort | effects of summer weather and heatwaves on wild boar activity |
| topic | behaviour biologging climate change heat Sus scrofa telemetry |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.242208 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT justineguldenpfennig effectsofsummerweatherandheatwavesonwildboaractivity AT niccolofattorini effectsofsummerweatherandheatwavesonwildboaractivity AT milosjezek effectsofsummerweatherandheatwavesonwildboaractivity AT kevinmorelle effectsofsummerweatherandheatwavesonwildboaractivity AT tomaszpodgorski effectsofsummerweatherandheatwavesonwildboaractivity |