Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks
Young birds in cold environments face a range of age-specific thermal challenges. Studying the thermal biology of young birds throughout ontogeny may further our understanding of how such challenges are met. We investigated how age and environmental parameters influenced surface temperature gradient...
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2021
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:527375 2023-05-15T15:44:44+02:00 Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks Stone, David W. Gunn, Carrie Nord, Andreas Phillips, Richard A. McCafferty, Dominic J. 2021-04 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527375/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527375/1/1-s2.0-S0306456520305490-main.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306456520305490 en eng Elsevier https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527375/1/1-s2.0-S0306456520305490-main.pdf Stone, David W.; Gunn, Carrie; Nord, Andreas; Phillips, Richard A.; McCafferty, Dominic J. 2021 Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks. Journal of Thermal Biology, 97, 102777. 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777> cc_by_nc_nd_4 CC-BY-NC-ND Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 2023-02-10T00:01:46Z Young birds in cold environments face a range of age-specific thermal challenges. Studying the thermal biology of young birds throughout ontogeny may further our understanding of how such challenges are met. We investigated how age and environmental parameters influenced surface temperature gradients across various body regions of wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) chicks on Bird Island, South Georgia. This study was carried out over a 200 d period during the austral winter, from the end of the brood-guard period until fledging, bridging a gap in knowledge of surface temperature variation and heat loss in developing birds with a long nestling stage in severe climatic conditions. We found that variation in surface temperature gradients (i.e., the difference between surface and environmental temperature) was strongly influenced by chick age effects for insulated body regions (trunk), with an increase in the surface temperature gradient that followed the progression of plumage development, from the second set of down (mesoptiles), to final chick feathers (teleoptiles). Environmental conditions (primarily wind speed and relative humidity) had a stronger influence on the gradients in uninsulated areas (eye, bill) than insulated regions, which we interpret as a reflection of the relative degree of homeothermy exhibited by chicks of a given age. Based on biophysical modelling, total heat loss of chicks was estimated to increase linearly with age. However, mass specific heat loss decreased during the early stages of growth and then subsequently increased. This was attributed to age-related changes in feather growth and activity that increased surface temperature and, hence, metabolic heat loss. These results provide a foundation for further work on the effects of environmental stressors on developing chicks, which are key to understanding the physiological responses of animals to changes in climate in polar regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Bird Island Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Austral Bird Island ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) Journal of Thermal Biology 97 102777 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Young birds in cold environments face a range of age-specific thermal challenges. Studying the thermal biology of young birds throughout ontogeny may further our understanding of how such challenges are met. We investigated how age and environmental parameters influenced surface temperature gradients across various body regions of wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) chicks on Bird Island, South Georgia. This study was carried out over a 200 d period during the austral winter, from the end of the brood-guard period until fledging, bridging a gap in knowledge of surface temperature variation and heat loss in developing birds with a long nestling stage in severe climatic conditions. We found that variation in surface temperature gradients (i.e., the difference between surface and environmental temperature) was strongly influenced by chick age effects for insulated body regions (trunk), with an increase in the surface temperature gradient that followed the progression of plumage development, from the second set of down (mesoptiles), to final chick feathers (teleoptiles). Environmental conditions (primarily wind speed and relative humidity) had a stronger influence on the gradients in uninsulated areas (eye, bill) than insulated regions, which we interpret as a reflection of the relative degree of homeothermy exhibited by chicks of a given age. Based on biophysical modelling, total heat loss of chicks was estimated to increase linearly with age. However, mass specific heat loss decreased during the early stages of growth and then subsequently increased. This was attributed to age-related changes in feather growth and activity that increased surface temperature and, hence, metabolic heat loss. These results provide a foundation for further work on the effects of environmental stressors on developing chicks, which are key to understanding the physiological responses of animals to changes in climate in polar regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stone, David W. Gunn, Carrie Nord, Andreas Phillips, Richard A. McCafferty, Dominic J. |
spellingShingle |
Stone, David W. Gunn, Carrie Nord, Andreas Phillips, Richard A. McCafferty, Dominic J. Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
author_facet |
Stone, David W. Gunn, Carrie Nord, Andreas Phillips, Richard A. McCafferty, Dominic J. |
author_sort |
Stone, David W. |
title |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
title_short |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
title_full |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
title_fullStr |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
title_sort |
plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527375/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527375/1/1-s2.0-S0306456520305490-main.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306456520305490 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) |
geographic |
Austral Bird Island |
geographic_facet |
Austral Bird Island |
genre |
Bird Island Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Bird Island Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527375/1/1-s2.0-S0306456520305490-main.pdf Stone, David W.; Gunn, Carrie; Nord, Andreas; Phillips, Richard A.; McCafferty, Dominic J. 2021 Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients in wandering albatross chicks. Journal of Thermal Biology, 97, 102777. 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777> |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 |
container_title |
Journal of Thermal Biology |
container_volume |
97 |
container_start_page |
102777 |
_version_ |
1766379104392708096 |