Franco Dos Santos Diogo J, Berger Vérane, Cristofari Robin, Htut Win, Nyein U Kyaw, Aung Htoo Htoo, Reichert Sophie, Lummaa Virpi
Department of Biology, University of Turku, Yliopistonmäki (Vesilinnantie 5) 20014 Turku, Finland.
Myanma Timber Enterprise, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, West Gyogone Forest Compound, Bayint Naung Road, 11011 Insein Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
Conserv Physiol. 2020 Dec 29;8(1):coaa119. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaa119. eCollection 2020.
Long-lived species are often predicted to be buffered against seasonal variation: longevity means low annual mortality and reproductive rates and annual variability in climate may therefore have a smaller impact on population growth rates of long-lived species in comparison to short-lived ones. However, little is known of the physiological mechanisms underlying such patterns in long-lived species. In this study, we investigated seasonal variation in the health of Asian elephants living in a seasonal monsoon climate. We used two complementary methods: (i) global and (ii) trait-by-trait analyses of seasonal effects on 23 health parameters of 225 individually marked elephants with known age and reproductive and health history, with repeated measures per individual over a 26-month period. The global analysis highlighted the biggest differences in health between the hot and monsoon seasons. Our trait-specific analyses identified the physiological functions underlying such health variation in different ecological settings, including haematological, immunological, muscular, kidney and liver functions, as well as protein balance and electrolytes. Overall, the results suggest that even long-lived, large mammals may experience physiological changes in response to seasonal variation that in extreme circumstances can pose a significant health risk.
长寿意味着低年度死亡率和繁殖率，因此与短命物种相比，气候的年度变化对长寿物种种群增长率的影响可能较小。然而，对于长寿物种中这种模式背后的生理机制，我们知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们调查了生活在季节性季风气候中的亚洲象健康状况的季节性变化。我们采用了两种互补方法：（i）全局分析，以及（ii）对225头已知年龄、繁殖和健康史且个体有标记的大象的23项健康参数进行逐个特征的季节性影响分析，在26个月的时间里对每头大象进行重复测量。全局分析突出了炎热季节和季风季节之间最大的健康差异。我们的特征特异性分析确定了不同生态环境中这种健康变化背后的生理功能，包括血液学、免疫学、肌肉、肾脏和肝脏功能，以及蛋白质平衡和电解质。总体而言，结果表明，即使是长寿的大型哺乳动物也可能因季节性变化而经历生理变化，在极端情况下可能会带来重大健康风险。
