Giant anteaters’ movement ecology revels forests as a potential resource to open-area mammals in heterogeneous landscapes

Abstract

Forests act as thermal buffers, offering milder temperatures than adjacent open areas. With the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, forests can be an important thermal shelter to wildlife. In endotherms, thermoregulatory behavioural strategies reduce the energetic costs of physiological thermoregulation. Between mammals, those with low capacity for physiologically thermoregulate should show more conspicuous thermoregulatory behaviors and, therefore, should be valuable models to understand the importance of forests as thermal shelters in a climate change world. Here, we explored the movement ecology of the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, a large mammal with low body heat production, exemplifying how forest patches can be an important thermal resource to open-area mammals living in heterogeneous landscapes. Based on GPS tracking data and movement models, we investigated (1) how much giant anteaters modulate activity and selection for forests as thermoregulatory behavioural strategies and (2) how much giant anteaters’ intrinsic traits and the availability of forests influence their space use and spatial requirements. Besides a surprisingly high shot-term behavioral plasticity regarding on activity, giant anteaters also showed increased selection for forests at extreme cold and hot weathers, comparing with mild ones. These animals selected forests at night when it was cold and during daylight when it was hot, while in mild temperatures they avoided forests all day long. We showed male and female giant anteaters presenting different space-use strategies, that differently scaled with body mass, and both sexes increasing home range size with decreasing proportion of forests inside their home ranges. Forests were important thermal resources at extreme weather conditions. Therefore, giant anteaters with lower access to forest patches possibly increased home range size to maximize the chances of accessing theses thermal shelters. Decreasing availability of forest patches in heterogeneous landscapes can reduce the habitat thermal suitability and increase spatial requirements even to mammals that are usually found in open areas, as giant anteaters. Considering the climate change scenario, the importance of forest patches should increase to these mammals, and it need to be considered in effective management decisions.