Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world
Abstract Arctic animals inhabit some of the coldest environments on the planet and have evolved physiological mechanisms for minimizing heat loss under extreme cold. However, the Arctic is warming faster than the global average and how well Arctic animals tolerate even moderately high air temperatur...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7141 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.7141 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.7141 |
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.7141 2024-06-23T07:49:29+00:00 Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world O'Connor, Ryan S. Le Pogam, Audrey Young, Kevin G. Robitaille, Francis Choy, Emily S. Love, Oliver P. Elliott, Kyle H. Hargreaves, Anna L. Berteaux, Dominique Tam, Andrew Vézina, François Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7141 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.7141 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.7141 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 4, page 1609-1619 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7141 2024-06-11T04:45:34Z Abstract Arctic animals inhabit some of the coldest environments on the planet and have evolved physiological mechanisms for minimizing heat loss under extreme cold. However, the Arctic is warming faster than the global average and how well Arctic animals tolerate even moderately high air temperatures ( T a ) is unknown. Using flow‐through respirometry, we investigated the heat tolerance and evaporative cooling capacity of snow buntings ( Plectrophenax nivalis ≈31 g, N = 42), a cold specialist, Arctic songbird. We exposed buntings to increasing T a and measured body temperature ( T b ), resting metabolic rate (RMR), rates of evaporative water loss (EWL), and evaporative cooling efficiency (the ratio of evaporative heat loss to metabolic heat production). Buntings had an average (± SD ) T b of 41.3 ± 0.2°C at thermoneutral T a and increased T b to a maximum of 43.5 ± 0.3°C. Buntings started panting at T a of 33.2 ± 1.7°C, with rapid increases in EWL starting at T a = 34.6°C, meaning they experienced heat stress when air temperatures were well below their body temperature. Maximum rates of EWL were only 2.9× baseline rates at thermoneutral T a , a markedly lower increase than seen in more heat‐tolerant arid‐zone species (e.g., ≥4.7× baseline rates). Heat‐stressed buntings also had low evaporative cooling efficiencies, with 95% of individuals unable to evaporatively dissipate an amount of heat equivalent to their own metabolic heat production. Our results suggest that buntings’ well‐developed cold tolerance may come at the cost of reduced heat tolerance. As the Arctic warms, and this and other species experience increased periods of heat stress, a limited capacity for evaporative cooling may force birds to increasingly rely on behavioral thermoregulation, such as minimizing activity, at the expense of diminished performance or reproductive investment. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Plectrophenax nivalis Wiley Online Library Arctic Ecology and Evolution 11 4 1609 1619 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Arctic animals inhabit some of the coldest environments on the planet and have evolved physiological mechanisms for minimizing heat loss under extreme cold. However, the Arctic is warming faster than the global average and how well Arctic animals tolerate even moderately high air temperatures ( T a ) is unknown. Using flow‐through respirometry, we investigated the heat tolerance and evaporative cooling capacity of snow buntings ( Plectrophenax nivalis ≈31 g, N = 42), a cold specialist, Arctic songbird. We exposed buntings to increasing T a and measured body temperature ( T b ), resting metabolic rate (RMR), rates of evaporative water loss (EWL), and evaporative cooling efficiency (the ratio of evaporative heat loss to metabolic heat production). Buntings had an average (± SD ) T b of 41.3 ± 0.2°C at thermoneutral T a and increased T b to a maximum of 43.5 ± 0.3°C. Buntings started panting at T a of 33.2 ± 1.7°C, with rapid increases in EWL starting at T a = 34.6°C, meaning they experienced heat stress when air temperatures were well below their body temperature. Maximum rates of EWL were only 2.9× baseline rates at thermoneutral T a , a markedly lower increase than seen in more heat‐tolerant arid‐zone species (e.g., ≥4.7× baseline rates). Heat‐stressed buntings also had low evaporative cooling efficiencies, with 95% of individuals unable to evaporatively dissipate an amount of heat equivalent to their own metabolic heat production. Our results suggest that buntings’ well‐developed cold tolerance may come at the cost of reduced heat tolerance. As the Arctic warms, and this and other species experience increased periods of heat stress, a limited capacity for evaporative cooling may force birds to increasingly rely on behavioral thermoregulation, such as minimizing activity, at the expense of diminished performance or reproductive investment. |
author2 |
Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
O'Connor, Ryan S. Le Pogam, Audrey Young, Kevin G. Robitaille, Francis Choy, Emily S. Love, Oliver P. Elliott, Kyle H. Hargreaves, Anna L. Berteaux, Dominique Tam, Andrew Vézina, François |
spellingShingle |
O'Connor, Ryan S. Le Pogam, Audrey Young, Kevin G. Robitaille, Francis Choy, Emily S. Love, Oliver P. Elliott, Kyle H. Hargreaves, Anna L. Berteaux, Dominique Tam, Andrew Vézina, François Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
author_facet |
O'Connor, Ryan S. Le Pogam, Audrey Young, Kevin G. Robitaille, Francis Choy, Emily S. Love, Oliver P. Elliott, Kyle H. Hargreaves, Anna L. Berteaux, Dominique Tam, Andrew Vézina, François |
author_sort |
O'Connor, Ryan S. |
title |
Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
title_short |
Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
title_full |
Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
title_fullStr |
Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
title_full_unstemmed |
Limited heat tolerance in an Arctic passerine: Thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
title_sort |
limited heat tolerance in an arctic passerine: thermoregulatory implications for cold‐specialized birds in a rapidly warming world |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7141 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.7141 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.7141 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Plectrophenax nivalis |
genre_facet |
Arctic Plectrophenax nivalis |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 4, page 1609-1619 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7141 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1609 |
op_container_end_page |
1619 |
_version_ |
1802639917983989760 |