Physiological constraints on heat adaptation in birds
Nord, Andreas LU
; Freeman, Marc T.
and McKechnie, Andrew E.
(2026)
In Trends in Ecology and Evolution
41(6).
p.492-503
- Abstract
Rising global temperatures and compound climatic extremes outpace avian thermoregulatory capacity. Yet, heat tolerance has been studied in only 1–2% of birds, mostly from the southern subtropics. The field requires research in two main areas. First, temperature and humidity must be considered in unison, and we provide a guiding, biophysical, framework for how these factors interact across climates. Second, we need experiments integrating ecology, evolution, and physiology. To that end, we introduce a life-history model relating thermoregulatory effort and the accumulation of heat-related damage to lifetime fecundity. Moving forward, we advocate multidisciplinary approaches to study heat tolerance across phylogenetic breadth and in... (More)
Rising global temperatures and compound climatic extremes outpace avian thermoregulatory capacity. Yet, heat tolerance has been studied in only 1–2% of birds, mostly from the southern subtropics. The field requires research in two main areas. First, temperature and humidity must be considered in unison, and we provide a guiding, biophysical, framework for how these factors interact across climates. Second, we need experiments integrating ecology, evolution, and physiology. To that end, we introduce a life-history model relating thermoregulatory effort and the accumulation of heat-related damage to lifetime fecundity. Moving forward, we advocate multidisciplinary approaches to study heat tolerance across phylogenetic breadth and in understudied biomes. This is essential for identifying species at risk and forecasting bird population dynamics in a changing world.
(Less)
- author
- Nord, Andreas
LU
; Freeman, Marc T.
and McKechnie, Andrew E.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- bird, climate change, conservation physiology, evolution, heat shock protein, thermoregulation
- in
- Trends in Ecology and Evolution
- volume
- 41
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 492 - 503
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:42034520
- scopus:105036655500
- ISSN
- 0169-5347
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.tree.2026.03.006
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3e522ef1-adcd-4b4e-a598-8549a0b418a8
- date added to LUP
- 2026-05-25 12:16:50
- date last changed
- 2026-09-30 12:28:18
@article{3e522ef1-adcd-4b4e-a598-8549a0b418a8,
abstract = {{<p>Rising global temperatures and compound climatic extremes outpace avian thermoregulatory capacity. Yet, heat tolerance has been studied in only 1–2% of birds, mostly from the southern subtropics. The field requires research in two main areas. First, temperature and humidity must be considered in unison, and we provide a guiding, biophysical, framework for how these factors interact across climates. Second, we need experiments integrating ecology, evolution, and physiology. To that end, we introduce a life-history model relating thermoregulatory effort and the accumulation of heat-related damage to lifetime fecundity. Moving forward, we advocate multidisciplinary approaches to study heat tolerance across phylogenetic breadth and in understudied biomes. This is essential for identifying species at risk and forecasting bird population dynamics in a changing world.</p>}},
author = {{Nord, Andreas and Freeman, Marc T. and McKechnie, Andrew E.}},
issn = {{0169-5347}},
keywords = {{bird; climate change; conservation physiology; evolution; heat shock protein; thermoregulation}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{492--503}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Trends in Ecology and Evolution}},
title = {{Physiological constraints on heat adaptation in birds}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2026.03.006}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.tree.2026.03.006}},
volume = {{41}},
year = {{2026}},
}