Experimental warming during incubation improves cold tolerance of blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) chicks
(2022) In Journal of Experimental Biology 225(10).- Abstract
Climate change and increasing air temperature may alter environmental conditions for developing birds, with a range of phenotypic consequences for offspring. The thermal environment during incubation may affect the trade-off between growth and thermoregulation, but the effects of temperature on the ontogeny of endothermy are not fully understood. Therefore, we experimentally tested whether heating the nest cup of Eurasian blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) during incubation would influence cold tolerance of the chicks after hatching. Chicks from both heated and control nests showed a decrease in cooling rate with age as they became increasingly endothermic and homeothermic. However, chicks from previously heated nests cooled at a lower... (More)
Climate change and increasing air temperature may alter environmental conditions for developing birds, with a range of phenotypic consequences for offspring. The thermal environment during incubation may affect the trade-off between growth and thermoregulation, but the effects of temperature on the ontogeny of endothermy are not fully understood. Therefore, we experimentally tested whether heating the nest cup of Eurasian blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) during incubation would influence cold tolerance of the chicks after hatching. Chicks from both heated and control nests showed a decrease in cooling rate with age as they became increasingly endothermic and homeothermic. However, chicks from previously heated nests cooled at a lower rate per unit surface area and from across the whole body. These chicks also had a greater body mass during the first 12 days of life compared with chicks from control nests. Lower cooling rates in heated chicks may reflect greater thermogenic capacity or a reduced surface area to volume ratio owing to a greater body mass. Future projections for climate change predict rising air temperature and increased likelihood of heatwaves, even in temperate regions. Our results indicate that nest microclimate can affect thermoregulation in offspring, and thus may be used to predict some of the future physiological responses of birds to climate change during breeding.
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- author
- Page, Jennifer L. ; Nord, Andreas LU ; Dominoni, Davide M. and McCafferty, Dominic J.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Avian physiology, Body temperature, Climate change, Endothermy, Homeothermy, Thermoregulation
- in
- Journal of Experimental Biology
- volume
- 225
- issue
- 10
- article number
- jeb243933
- publisher
- The Company of Biologists Ltd
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85131674400
- pmid:35470386
- ISSN
- 0022-0949
- DOI
- 10.1242/jeb.243933
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 32e6878e-398e-408e-83f9-bd47e6e898a2
- date added to LUP
- 2023-01-19 11:41:48
- date last changed
- 2024-06-13 23:19:26
@article{32e6878e-398e-408e-83f9-bd47e6e898a2,
abstract = {{<p>Climate change and increasing air temperature may alter environmental conditions for developing birds, with a range of phenotypic consequences for offspring. The thermal environment during incubation may affect the trade-off between growth and thermoregulation, but the effects of temperature on the ontogeny of endothermy are not fully understood. Therefore, we experimentally tested whether heating the nest cup of Eurasian blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) during incubation would influence cold tolerance of the chicks after hatching. Chicks from both heated and control nests showed a decrease in cooling rate with age as they became increasingly endothermic and homeothermic. However, chicks from previously heated nests cooled at a lower rate per unit surface area and from across the whole body. These chicks also had a greater body mass during the first 12 days of life compared with chicks from control nests. Lower cooling rates in heated chicks may reflect greater thermogenic capacity or a reduced surface area to volume ratio owing to a greater body mass. Future projections for climate change predict rising air temperature and increased likelihood of heatwaves, even in temperate regions. Our results indicate that nest microclimate can affect thermoregulation in offspring, and thus may be used to predict some of the future physiological responses of birds to climate change during breeding.</p>}},
author = {{Page, Jennifer L. and Nord, Andreas and Dominoni, Davide M. and McCafferty, Dominic J.}},
issn = {{0022-0949}},
keywords = {{Avian physiology; Body temperature; Climate change; Endothermy; Homeothermy; Thermoregulation}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{10}},
publisher = {{The Company of Biologists Ltd}},
series = {{Journal of Experimental Biology}},
title = {{Experimental warming during incubation improves cold tolerance of blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) chicks}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243933}},
doi = {{10.1242/jeb.243933}},
volume = {{225}},
year = {{2022}},
}