Conservation implications of hibernation in mammals

Abstract

Abstract Hibernation is a life history strategy for conservation of energy during adverse conditions, primarily of temperature or resource availability. Whilst energy conservation is beneficial in itself, it is less clear whether hibernation confers wider conservation benefits or mitigates or exacerbates a wide range of threats. We briefly review how hibernation manifests in mammalian biology, primarily through energy budgets, activity levels and resource requirements, but then ask how these interact with existing pressures to affect conservation risk. We also explore conservation actions that could alleviate the negative relations between some pressures and hibernation biology and review the available evidence for these measures. Hibernation can convey some protection from disease and predation, though there are notable exceptions, for example white‐nose syndrome. There is well‐established evidence that hibernators are prone to hazards of disturbance during hibernation, necessitating careful mitigation. Hibernators exhibit diverse responses to the pressures related to climate change, including temperature variability and phenological and range mismatches. Yet for each aspect, there are examples of species and populations responding negatively, such as with reduced survival, which suggests that hibernation could exacerbate the negative consequences of climate change. Though there are times when hibernators do not respond as expected, we find several positive conservation actions, such as modern grilles and regulations reducing the disturbance of cave‐hibernating bat species. Understanding and working with hibernation biology can, therefore, successfully mitigate the additional risks it confers.