Bats inhabiting arid, subtropical environments face diverse challenges related to energy and water balance. First, they may have to conserve water and energy during cool, dry winters when water is scarce and insect availability reduced. Second, during hot summers when air temperature may routinely exceed body temperature, bats may need to avoid both hyperthermia and dehydration. A common response to the energetically challenging winter period in temperate, subtropical and tropical species is heterothermy (i.e. torpor and hibernation). Despite evidence suggesting that heterothermy is of major significance in the energy balance of tropical and subtropical bats, its occurrence in southern African species especially those in semi-arid subtropical regions have received relatively little attention. Moreover, the physiological and thermoregulatory responses of bats to high air temperatures (Ta) are relatively poorly known. The goal of my project was to investigate various seasonal physiological challenges imposed on bats in an arid, sub-tropical climate. I investigated the occurrence of winter heterothermy in Nycteris thebaica (Nycteridae) in the Limpopo Valley. Skin temperatures (Tskin) were measured using temperature-sensitive transmitters, and roost temperatures (Troost) were recorded using miniature temperature loggers. N. thebaica used multiple roosting sites, including a hollow baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) and several caves, and exhibited only moderate heterothermy. Tskin was maintained around normothermic levels, with differences of 3-9°C (7.5±1.7°C) between overall maximum and minimum Tbs. A minimum Tskin of 28.4°C occurred at Troost = 23.8°C, and patterns of thermoregulation did not appear to be influenced by prevailing weather conditions. Roost temperatures did not decrease below 10°C, and averaged 21.2±2.8°C and 23.3±2.9°C respectively. The lack of pronounced heterothermy in N. thebaica is surprising, particularly in view of the daily torpor cycles observed in many insectivorous bat species. I also investigated the physiological responses of three sympatric bat species during summer using an open-flow respirometry system to measure resting metabolic rates (RMR) and evaporative water loss (EWL) over a range of Tas ~ 10-42°C, with body temperatures (Tb) simultaneously recorded via temperature-sensitive passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. Basal metabolic rates for Nycteris thebaica and Taphozous mauritianus were 8.9±2.7mW.g-1 and 6.6±2.2mW.g-1 respectively, falling within the 95% prediction intervals for bat BMR, whereas the value for Sauromys petrophilus (3.4±0.6mW.g-1) fell below the lower 95% prediction interval. Maximum EWL for N. thebaica, T. mauritianus and S. petrophilus were 18.6±2.1mg.g-1.h-1 (Ta=39.4°C), 14.7±3.1mg.g-1.h-1 (Ta=41.9°C) and 23.7±7.4mg.g-1.h-1 (Ta=41.7°C) respectively. Maximum individual Tbs recorded were 46.5°C in N. thebaica (Ta=39.3°C), 44.9°C in T. mauritianus (Ta=41.8°C) and 46.5°C in S. petrophilus (Ta=41.7°C). Overall, I found that N. thebaica was the least heat tolerant species, with T. mauritianus and S. petrophilus being more heat tolerant. In the face of climate change, heat tolerance together with specific thermal properties of a given roost may play a major role in the ability of a species to persist in a hot, arid environment. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

nÃo hà / Um dos desafios centrais de investigadores e gestores de Ãgua em grandes bacias à avaliar, de modo confiÃvel, a disponibilidade de Ãgua em condiÃÃes reais. Em bacias do semi-Ãrido brasileiro, um dos principais desafios consiste em considerar os efeitos da proliferaÃÃo de pequenos aÃudes. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo principal definir um arranjo Ãtimo para o sistema de acumulaÃÃo em grandes bacias no semi-Ãrido, denominado Ãtimo por corresponder ao melhor Ãndice de sustentabilidade (IS) da disponibilidade hidrolÃgica da bacia. Para atingir o objetivo proposto foi estudado o caso da bacia do aÃude OrÃs (CearÃ, 24 mil km2). A referida bacia conta atualmente com mais de quatro mil reservatÃrios de diversos tamanhos, sendo estratÃgica para o abastecimento do estado. O modelo WASA (Water Availability in Semi-Arid Environments) foi aplicado para o perÃodo entre 1961 e 2005 e sua validade comprovada para a Ãrea em estudo, comprovando a robustez do modelo para estimar a disponibilidade hÃdrica em grandes bacias hidrogrÃficas, mesmo considerando o efeito de milhares de pequenos reservatÃrios a montante. Usando-se o mÃtodo de otimizaÃÃo de busca direta Simplex-MSX, foram simulados cerca de 60 arranjos para a pequena aÃudagem na bacia. Para cada arranjo foi estimada a respectiva eficiÃncia hidrolÃgica atravÃs do Ãndice de sustentabilidade IS. O arranjo Ãtimo permitiu o estabelecimento de parÃmetros capazes de orientar a polÃtica para a pequena aÃudagem em grandes bacias semi-Ãridas. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que a disponibilidade hÃdrica mÃxima pode ser obtida para a Ãrea mÃdia de captaÃÃo de 7 km2 por aÃude e para volume Ãtimo de armazenamento da bacia tal que seu tempo de residÃncia seja da ordem de 3 anos / One of the central challenges of researchers and water managers in large-scale watersheds is to evaluate the water availability in real conditions. In watersheds of the Brazilian semi-arid region, one of the main challenges consists of considering the effect of the proliferation of small reservoirs. This research has as the main objective to search the optimum arrangement for the system of accumulation in large watersheds in the semi-arid environment. The objective function to be optimized is the ASCE hydrological sustainability index (SI) of the watershed. In order to achieve the considered objective, the case of OrÃs dam (CearÃ, Brazil) watershed (ca. 24000 kmÂ) was studied. This watershed has presently more than four thousand small reservoirs, and it is strategic for the water supplying in the state. The WASA model (âWater Availability in Semi-Arid Environmentsâ) was applied to the watershed for the period from 1961 to 2005 for validation purposes. The robustness of the WASA model in predicting water availability in the large-scale watershed, considering the effect of thousands of small reservoirs, was proven. Using the optimization method of Simplex-MSX, 60 different arrangements for the small reservoirs in the watershed were simulated for a 45-year period with daily steps. For each arrangement the respective hydrological efficiency (assessed by the sustainability index) was estimated. The optimum arrangement allowed the establishment of parameters capable to guide the policy for small reservoirs in large semi-arid watersheds. The main results of the research showed that the maximum sustainability index was obtained for average contribution area of 7 km per dam; and storage volume of the basin such that its time of residence is in the order of 3 years

Over the past century, woody plants and shrubs have increased in abundance at the expense of grasslands in many semiarid regions. The availability and concentrations of nutrients influence the relative success of plants, but the effects of fire frequency on soil nutrients is unknown for semiarid grasslands. On the gunnery ranges of Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona, study sites were established to examine the effects of fire frequency on soil biogeochemistry, plant biochemistry, and δ¹³C values in soil organic matter (SOM). The sites were on homogeneous granitic alluvium where wildfire frequency history is known from 1973 to present and no cattle grazing has occurred in recent decades. Subplots represent fire frequencies of no burns, 3 fires per decade, and 5 fires per decade. The "no burn" plot has abundant C₃ Prosopis veleruina (mesquite) trees, whereas the burned plots are open C₄-dominated grasslands with scattered mesquite trees. Prosopis trees have altered SOM pools by the concentration of plant nutrients and the addition of isotopically light shrub litter. Frequent fires have altered the basic geochemistry and nutrient availabilities of the soil, and the changes appear to be significant enough to affect plant growth. Soil pH increases with burning frequency, and TOC, total nitrogen, and plant -available phosphorus show significant increases on the infrequently burned plot. Burning is advantageous for preservation or restoration of grasslands, as total living grass biomass is greater on the two burned plots. Root biomass is significantly lower on the "frequently burned" plot. Concentrations of the key nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus are reduced in plants on the burned sites compared to plants on the unburned site. Fires help re-distribute nutrients but evidence of nutrient concentrations and δ¹³C values are retained in SOM for many decades. Estimates of bulk carbon turnover rates range from 112 to 504 years. Evidence for modern C₃ shrub expansion is found in the shift of SOM δ¹³C values from values characteristic of C₄ grasses to C₃ shrubs in surface soil layers. δ¹³C(SOM) values indicate that the Holocene and Late Pleistocene were dominated by C₄ grasslands, and the pre-Late Pleistocene vegetation was a C₄-grass savanna with abundant C₃ plants.