Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss 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...
Published in: | Journal of Thermal Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 |
id |
ftulundlup:oai:lup.lub.lu.se:b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftulundlup:oai:lup.lub.lu.se:b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b 2024-04-28T08:02:36+00:00 Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks Stone, David W. Gunn, Carrie Nord, Andreas Phillips, Richard A. McCafferty, Dominic J. 2021-04-01 https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 eng eng Elsevier https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 scopus:85102049777 pmid:33863421 Journal of Thermal Biology; 97, no 102777 (2021) ISSN: 0306-4565 Developmental Biology Antarctic Climate Development Diomedea exulans Polar Thermal imaging Thermoregulation contributiontojournal/article info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2021 ftulundlup https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 2024-04-09T23:45:46Z 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 Antarc* Antarctic Bird Island Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross Lund University Publications (LUP) Journal of Thermal Biology 97 102777 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Lund University Publications (LUP) |
op_collection_id |
ftulundlup |
language |
English |
topic |
Developmental Biology Antarctic Climate Development Diomedea exulans Polar Thermal imaging Thermoregulation |
spellingShingle |
Developmental Biology Antarctic Climate Development Diomedea exulans Polar Thermal imaging Thermoregulation Stone, David W. Gunn, Carrie Nord, Andreas Phillips, Richard A. McCafferty, Dominic J. Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
topic_facet |
Developmental Biology Antarctic Climate Development Diomedea exulans Polar Thermal imaging Thermoregulation |
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. |
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 and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
title_short |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
title_full |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
title_fullStr |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
title_sort |
plumage development and environmental factors influence surface temperature gradients and heat loss in wandering albatross chicks |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Bird Island Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Bird Island Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
op_source |
Journal of Thermal Biology; 97, no 102777 (2021) ISSN: 0306-4565 |
op_relation |
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b982bf04-8465-4891-91e4-7baacce0e74b http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102777 scopus:85102049777 pmid:33863421 |
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_ |
1797573891662544896 |