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The weather dictates the rhythms: Alpine chamois activity is well adapted to ecological conditions

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Abstract

Activity rhythms play an important role in the ecological relations of a species and form part of its evolutionary adaptation. Such rhythms are strongly synchronised with the annual cyclic changes by environmental stimuli, the so-called zeitgebers. Animals’ reliance on environmental stimuli is highly species-specific and allows behavioural adjustments to be made in preparation for the conditions expected in each season. We investigated daily and annual activity rhythms of Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) by analysing high-resolution data of animals monitored with GPS collars. This first detailed field study of chamois activity showed that this species exhibited clear daily and annual activity rhythms entrained to the light-dark cycle. Chamois were more active during spring-summer and less active during winter, likely in response to the variation in the availability of food resources: both sexes appeared to maximise energy intake during the season offering the highest amount of food resources to compensate for poor food supply during winter. Daily activity was influenced by the climatic factors considered. We showed a negative correlation between daily activity and adverse climatic conditions (i.e. precipitation and, during winter, snow depth). As activity was strongly influenced by the interplay between temperature and wind throughout the year and by radiation and wind in winter, we conjectured that it was critically dependent upon animals’ thermal balance. In conclusion, our study highlighted that chamois is well adapted to the Alpine environment and seasonality but also raised questions about its ability to adapt to future climate change.

Significance statement

In this study, we investigated the effects of ecological factors on Alpine chamois activity. Thanks to radio collars with accelerometers, we obtained highly detailed information on activity levels of wild animals. We found that chamois were more active during spring-summer (i.e. the seasons with the highest quality and quantity of food) and less active during winter. Our results showed that chamois activity was strongly influenced by such climatic factors as temperature, precipitation and wind speed. In winter time, chamois activity increased during the days with high solar radiation and decreased with high snow depth. Given their wide distribution in the Alps, chamois can be considered as a sentinel species of Alpine habitats. Thus, our results on the current relationship between climate and chamois behaviour may shed light on the animals’ ability to track and adapt to climate change.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank all the park rangers of the Swiss National Park who captured, marked and monitored the chamois. We are grateful to S. Ciuti for his constructive and helpful comments on the first draft of this manuscript. Finally, we wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on a previous draft of this manuscript. This project was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (PRIN 2010–2011, 20108 TZKHC, J81J12000790001). SG had the support of the fund “P.O.R. F.S.E. 2007–2013—Obiettivo competitività regionale e occupazione. Asse IV Capitale umano—Linea di attività 1.3.1”. The English version was edited by C. Polli.

Author contributions

SG, FB and MA originally formulated the idea. FF and FT conducted fieldwork. SG, CB, FB and MA collaborated in imaging analysis. FB, CB and SG performed statistical analyses. FB wrote the manuscript and other authors provided editorial advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Science for Nature and Environmental Resources, University of Sassari, via Muroni 25, 07100, Sassari, Italy

    Francesca Brivio, Federico Tettamanti, Marco Apollonio & Stefano Grignolio

  2. Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Cristiano Bertolucci

  3. Parc Naziunal Svizzer, 7530, Zernez, Switzerland

    Flurin Filli

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  1. Francesca Brivio
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  2. Cristiano Bertolucci
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  3. Federico Tettamanti
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  4. Flurin Filli
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  5. Marco Apollonio
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  6. Stefano Grignolio
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Correspondence to Francesca Brivio.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

Female and male Alpine chamois were tagged by rangers of the Swiss National Park under the legal authorization of the Swiss Veterinary Office. All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Communicated by K. E. Ruckstuhl

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Brivio, F., Bertolucci, C., Tettamanti, F. et al. The weather dictates the rhythms: Alpine chamois activity is well adapted to ecological conditions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 70, 1291–1304 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2137-8

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