Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic
Arctic breeding songbirds migrate early in the spring and can face winter environments requiring cold endurance throughout their journey. One such species, the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is known for its significant thermogenic capacity. Empirical studies suggest that buntings can indeed...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 https://doaj.org/article/5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 2023-05-15T14:35:35+02:00 Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic Audrey Le Pogam Ryan S. O’Connor Oliver P. Love Justine Drolet Lyette Régimbald Gabrielle Roy Marie-Pier Laplante Dominique Berteaux Andrew Tam François Vézina 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 https://doaj.org/article/5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 https://doaj.org/article/5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 9 (2021) Arctic bird Arctic breeding body composition basal metabolic rate cold acclimatization migration Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 2022-12-31T07:00:42Z Arctic breeding songbirds migrate early in the spring and can face winter environments requiring cold endurance throughout their journey. One such species, the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is known for its significant thermogenic capacity. Empirical studies suggest that buntings can indeed maintain winter cold acclimatization into the migratory and breeding phenotypes when kept captive on their wintering grounds. This capacity could be advantageous not only for migrating in a cold environment, but also for facing unpredictable Arctic weather on arrival and during preparation for breeding. However, migration also typically leads to declines in the sizes of several body components linked to metabolic performance. As such, buntings could also experience some loss of cold endurance as they migrate. Here, we aimed to determine whether free-living snow buntings maintain a cold acclimatized phenotype during spring migration. Using a multi-year dataset, we compared body composition (body mass, fat stores, and pectoralis muscle thickness), oxygen carrying capacity (hematocrit) and metabolic performance (thermogenic capacity – Msum and maintenance energy expenditure – BMR) of birds captured on their wintering grounds (January–February, Rimouski, QC, 48°N) and during pre-breeding (April–May) in the Arctic (Alert, NU, 82°). Our results show that body mass, fat stores and Msum were similar between the two stages, while hematocrit and pectoralis muscle thickness were lower in pre-breeding birds than in wintering individuals. These results suggest that although tissue degradation during migration may affect flight muscle size, buntings are able to maintain cold endurance (i.e., Msum) up to their Arctic breeding grounds. However, BMR was higher during pre-breeding than during winter, suggesting higher maintenance costs in the Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Plectrophenax nivalis Snow Bunting Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic bird Arctic breeding body composition basal metabolic rate cold acclimatization migration Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic bird Arctic breeding body composition basal metabolic rate cold acclimatization migration Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Audrey Le Pogam Ryan S. O’Connor Oliver P. Love Justine Drolet Lyette Régimbald Gabrielle Roy Marie-Pier Laplante Dominique Berteaux Andrew Tam François Vézina Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic |
topic_facet |
Arctic bird Arctic breeding body composition basal metabolic rate cold acclimatization migration Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Arctic breeding songbirds migrate early in the spring and can face winter environments requiring cold endurance throughout their journey. One such species, the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis), is known for its significant thermogenic capacity. Empirical studies suggest that buntings can indeed maintain winter cold acclimatization into the migratory and breeding phenotypes when kept captive on their wintering grounds. This capacity could be advantageous not only for migrating in a cold environment, but also for facing unpredictable Arctic weather on arrival and during preparation for breeding. However, migration also typically leads to declines in the sizes of several body components linked to metabolic performance. As such, buntings could also experience some loss of cold endurance as they migrate. Here, we aimed to determine whether free-living snow buntings maintain a cold acclimatized phenotype during spring migration. Using a multi-year dataset, we compared body composition (body mass, fat stores, and pectoralis muscle thickness), oxygen carrying capacity (hematocrit) and metabolic performance (thermogenic capacity – Msum and maintenance energy expenditure – BMR) of birds captured on their wintering grounds (January–February, Rimouski, QC, 48°N) and during pre-breeding (April–May) in the Arctic (Alert, NU, 82°). Our results show that body mass, fat stores and Msum were similar between the two stages, while hematocrit and pectoralis muscle thickness were lower in pre-breeding birds than in wintering individuals. These results suggest that although tissue degradation during migration may affect flight muscle size, buntings are able to maintain cold endurance (i.e., Msum) up to their Arctic breeding grounds. However, BMR was higher during pre-breeding than during winter, suggesting higher maintenance costs in the Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Audrey Le Pogam Ryan S. O’Connor Oliver P. Love Justine Drolet Lyette Régimbald Gabrielle Roy Marie-Pier Laplante Dominique Berteaux Andrew Tam François Vézina |
author_facet |
Audrey Le Pogam Ryan S. O’Connor Oliver P. Love Justine Drolet Lyette Régimbald Gabrielle Roy Marie-Pier Laplante Dominique Berteaux Andrew Tam François Vézina |
author_sort |
Audrey Le Pogam |
title |
Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic |
title_short |
Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic |
title_full |
Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Snow Buntings Maintain Winter-Level Cold Endurance While Migrating to the High Arctic |
title_sort |
snow buntings maintain winter-level cold endurance while migrating to the high arctic |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 https://doaj.org/article/5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Plectrophenax nivalis Snow Bunting |
genre_facet |
Arctic Plectrophenax nivalis Snow Bunting |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 9 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 https://doaj.org/article/5dd678d3c2154358ab4c05e5a33e9f32 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.724876 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
9 |
_version_ |
1766308387735207936 |