Heat Waves - Could Lead to Avian Population Decline

Researchers examined how heat impacts the behaviour and physiology of zebra finches. They discovered that heat altered the activity of hundreds of genes in the testis, but fewer in the brain, suggesting that the brain may be less responsive to extreme temperatures. The study also provided some hopeful insights for birds and their ability to handle the threat of climate change.

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Understanding how birds respond to climate change is a critical area of research that Elizabeth Derryberry, associate professor in the UT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and her colleagues are racing to understand, including the increased prevalence and intensity of heat waves. In a new study published online in Molecular Ecology, the researchers examined how heat impacts the behaviour and physiology of zebra finches.

“Most of what we know about the behavioural and physiological effects of heat comes from aquatic organisms or terrestrial cold-blooded animals, but heat waves could be a real problem for terrestrial birds and mammals too, especially if heat interferes with critical components of their reproductive behaviour and physiology,” said Sara Lipshutz, assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago, former graduate student at UT, and first author on the publication. “We wanted to understand how that happens as a first step towards understanding how to manage these problems.”