The energetic impacts of climate change vary along climatic gradients in mammals

The energetic impacts of climate change vary along climatic gradients in mammals | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The energetic impacts of climate change vary along climatic gradients in mammals Marta Correas-Araus, Juan G. Rubalcaba This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6651627/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Extreme temperature fluctuations are becoming more frequent due to climate change, likely increasing the cost of living of endotherms through their impact on the energy and water budgets. Yet, we know little about the magnitude of these impacts and whether species from different climatic regions will differ in their response to cold and heat waves. We confronted mechanistic models with field metabolic rate data (FMR) of mammals to analyze the response of energy and water balance to temperature anomaly across climatic gradients. FMR increased in response to both positive and negative anomalies in colder regions, and this pattern was consistent across both observed and modelled FMR. By contrast, warm-living mammals displayed lower FMR during heat waves, a pattern that was not captured by the model, probably due to physiological and behavioral adaptations to prevent water loss in warm, dry environments. The energetic impacts of climate change will differ among mammals inhabiting different climates, and therefore, species-specific parameterization is required for future mechanistic models to predict these impacts. Biological sciences/Ecology/Ecophysiology Biological sciences/Ecology/Climate-change ecology Temperature anomaly heat waves thermoregulation metabolic heat production evaporative water loss Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6651627","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":455778439,"identity":"b7e23191-c97d-426c-9831-5c4ed8d7e5e9","order_by":0,"name":"Marta Correas-Araus","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad Ciencias Biológicas, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marta","middleName":"","lastName":"Correas-Araus","suffix":""},{"id":455778438,"identity":"83de51d7-69c2-49c9-91a9-a92b58d7eb94","order_by":1,"name":"Juan G. 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