Endocrinology of thermoregulation in birds in a changing climate

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2020.111088. This is version 2 of this Preprint.

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Authors

Suvi Ruuskanen, Bin-Yan Hsu, Andreas Nord 

Abstract

The ability to maintain a (relatively) stable body temperature in a wide range of thermal environments is a unique feature of endotherms such as birds. Endothermy is acquired and regulated via various endocrine and molecular pathways, and ultimately allows wide aerial, aquatic, and terrestrial distribution in variable environments. However, due to our changing climate, birds are faced with potential new challenges for thermoregulation, such as more frequent extreme weather events, lower predictability of climate, and increasing mean temperature. We provide a compact overview on thermoregulation in birds and its endocrine and molecular mechanisms, pinpointing gaps in current knowledge and recent developments, focusing especially on non-model species to understand the generality of, and variation in, mechanisms. We highlight plasticity in thermoregulation and underlying endocrine regulation, because thorough understanding of plasticity is key to predicting responses to changing environmental conditions. To this end, we discuss how changing climate is likely to affect avian thermoregulation and associated endocrine traits, and how the interplay between these physiological processes may play a role in facilitating or constraining adaptation to a changing climate. We conclude that while the general patterns of endocrine regulation of thermogenesis are quite well understood, at least in poultry, the molecular and endocrine mechanisms that regulate e.g. mitochondria function and plasticity of thermoregulation over different time scales (from transgenerational to daily variation) need to be unveiled. Plasticity may ameliorate climate change effects on thermoregulation to some extent, but the increased frequency of extreme weather events, and associated in resource availability, may be beyond the scope and/or speed for plastic responses. This could lead to selection for more tolerant phenotypes, if the underlying physiological traits harbour genetic and individual variation for selection to act on – a key question for future research.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32942/osf.io/jzam3

Subjects

Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Endocrinology, Life Sciences, Physiology

Keywords

avUCP, climate change, corticosterone, endocrinology, NST, plasticity, temperature, Thermoregulation, thyroid hormone, Weather

Dates

Published: 2019-09-08 17:01

Last Updated: 2020-05-11 11:32

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License

CC-By Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International