Development of thermoregulation in ducklings

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 1243-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Untergasser ◽  
J. S. Hayward

The embryos of mallards and scaups show no evidence of homeothermy before the point of hatching. The ability to thermoregulate develops quickly directly after hatching, so that day-old mallards remain homeothermic for at least 2.5 h at ambient temperatures down to +2 °C. The lowest ambient temperatures at which 1-day-old scaups and common eiders remain homeothermic for at least 2.5 h are −2 °C and −7 °C respectively. This rapid development of cold resistance is related to increases in peak metabolic rates and insulative capacities. In embryos of pipped eggs, metabolic rates do not exceed 1.1 ml O2/g h for mallards and 1.6 ml/g h for scaups, while the peak metabolic rates of the day-old young are 6.1 and 7.0 ml/g h respectively. One-day-old common eiders have a peak metabolic rate of about 5 ml/g h. After an age of 3 days, cold resistance increases with age while peak metabolic rates decrease, indicating that reduced heat loss contributes to increased cold resistance. At an age of 7 days, mallards can maintain homeothermy for at least 2.5 h at −4 °C, scaups at −14 °C, and common eiders at −16 °C. Insulation indices of eider ducklings are significantly higher than those of young mallards and scaups.

1979 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
HEINRICH BERND

1. While foraging, attacking, or leaving or returning to their hives, both the African and European honeybees maintained their thoracic temperature at 30 °C or above, independent of ambient temperature from 7 to 23 °C (in shade). 2. Thoracic temperatures were not significantly different between African and European bees. 3. Thoracic temperatures were significantly different during different activities. Average thoracic temperatures (at ambient temperatures of 8–23 °C) were lowest (30 °C) in bees turning to the hive. They were 31–32 °C during foraging, and 36–38 °C in bees leaving the hive, and in those attacking. The bees thus warm up above their temperature in the hive (32 °C) before leaving the colony. 4. In the laboratory the bees (European) did not maintain the minimum thoracic temperature for continuous flight (27 °C) at 10 °C. When forced to remain in continuous flight for at least 2 min, thoracic temperature averaged 15 °C above ambient temperature from 15 to 25 °C, and was regulated only at high ambient temperatures (30–40 °C). 5. At ambient temperatures > 25 °C, the bees heated up during return to the hive, attack and foraging above the thoracic temperatures they regulated at low ambient temperatures to near the temperatures they regulated during continuous flight. 6. In both African and European bees, attack behaviour and high thoracic temperature are correlated. 7. The data suggest that the bees regulate thoracic temperature by both behavioural and physiological means. It can be inferred that the African bees have a higher metabolic rate than the European, but their smaller size, which facilitates more rapid heat loss, results in similar thoracic temperatures.


2006 ◽  
Vol 274 (1607) ◽  
pp. 287-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig R White ◽  
Tim M Blackburn ◽  
Graham R Martin ◽  
Patrick J Butler

A classic example of ecophysiological adaptation is the observation that animals from hot arid environments have lower basal metabolic rates (BMRs, ml O 2  min −1 ) than those from non-arid (luxuriant) ones. However, the term ‘arid’ conceals within it a multitude of characteristics including extreme ambient temperatures ( T a , °C) and low annual net primary productivities (NPPs, g C m −2 ), both of which have been shown to correlate with BMR. To assess the relationship between environmental characteristics and metabolic rate in birds, we collated BMR measurements for 92 populations representing 90 wild-caught species and examined the relationships between BMR and NPP, T a , annual temperature range ( T r ), precipitation and intra-annual coefficient of variation of precipitation ( P CV ). Using conventional non-phylogenetic and phylogenetic generalized least-squares approaches, we found no support for a relationship between BMR and NPP, despite including species captured throughout the world in environments spanning a 35-fold range in NPP. Instead, BMR was negatively associated with T a and T r , and positively associated with P CV .


2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (5) ◽  
pp. R1165-R1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica B. Buchanan ◽  
Elizabeth Peloso ◽  
Evelyn Satinoff

We injected old and young rats with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 μg/kg ip) at two ambient temperatures ( Ta; 21 and 31°C). Young rats mounted equivalent fevers at both Tas [peak body temperatures ( Tb) of 38.3 and 38.7°C, respectively]. The Tbof old rats was not different from baseline (37.3°C) after LPS at Ta21°C, whereas, at 31°C, their Tbrose to a mean peak of 38.4°C. We also measured the associated thermoregulatory responses by use of calorimetry. At 21°C, young rats developed a fever by increasing both O2consumption and heat conservation. Old rats did not become febrile, and O2consumption fell by 15%. Heat loss was the same in old and young rats. At 31°C, young and old rats developed similar fevers with similar increases in heat production and conservation. Our results suggest that the lack of LPS fever in old rats at 21°C is due mainly to the lowered metabolic rate.


1962 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Alexander

The study of temperature regulation in new-born lambs has been extended from dry lambs in "still air" at various ambient temperatures to dry lambs in a wind of 550 cm sec-l, and to lambs whose coats are drying. Exposure to wind resulted in an increased slope of the line relating heat production to ambient temperature, but under the experimental conditions evaporation of water from the coat added approximately the same increment at all ambient temperatures. The effects of wind and evaporation at any one temperature appeared additive. The heat loss from naturally wet new-born lambs less than 1 hr old, in a wind, was greater than in slightly older lambs wetted with tap water. Lambs with hairy coats were able to conserve heat more readily than lambs with fine coats. The cooling efficiency of evaporation from the coat was about 25%. The elevation in temperature of the extremities which follows feeding and persists under conditions of moderate heat loss, appears to be almost abolished under conditions of high heat loss. During the studies on drying lambs, beat loss in many lambs exceeded heat production, and rectal temperature fell, which thus indicated the maximum possible heat production (summit metabolic rate) of which lambs are capable. Lambs from ewes on low or medium levels of feeding during pregnancy cooled more readily than lambs from well-fed ewes.


1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond J. Hock ◽  
Jane C. Roberts

Metabolic rates of deer mice, P. maniculatus sonoriensis, native to and studied at sea level, 1220 m, and 3800 m were measured at a number of ambient temperatures between 0 and 37 °C. In summer (May–August) there was a direct relationship between metabolic rate and pO2 at all ambient temperatures. When metabolic rates were measured in fall (October–November) at 20 and 32 °C, the MR's of mice from sea level and 3800 m were nearly identical.It is concluded that seasonal changes in MR differ markedly with altitude. At sea level the response to seasonal cold appears ascribable to an increase in physiological insulation. At 3800 m, where summer MR is low, the response to seasonal cold is a metabolic one, that is, an increase in metabolic rate with no change in body temperature.There appears to be no clear-cut relationship between body temperature and altitude and a number of factors other than hypoxia undoubtedly influence not only body temperature, but also thermoregulatory ability of mice from different altitudes.


1975 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Wilmore ◽  
A. D. Mason ◽  
D. W. Johnson ◽  
B. A. Pruitt

Four controls and eight burned patients with thermal injury ranging from 7 to 84% total body surface were studied in an environmental chamber at 25 and 33 degrees C ambient temperature and a constant vapor pressure during two consecutive 24-h periods. Hypermetabolism was present in the burn patients in both ambient temperatures and core and skin temperatures were consistently higher than in the normal men despite increased evaporative water loss. The higher environmental temperature decreased metabolic rate in patients with large thermal injuries in whom the decrement in dry heat loss produced by higher ambient temperature exceeded the increase of wet heat loss. In patients with burns smaller than 60%, these changes equaled one another and higher environmental temperature exerted no effect on metabolic rate. Core-skin heat conductivity increased with burn size; patients with large burns were characterized by inadequate core-skin insulation when exposed to the cooler environment, necessitating the compensatory increase of metabolic rate. This increase, however, was small and of the order of 5–8 kcal times m-2 times h-1.


1981 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-55
Author(s):  
BERND HEINRICH

1. Free (active) honeybee swarms regulated their core temperature (Tc) generally within 1 °C of 35 °C. They maintained the same temperature around freshly built honeycomb, and in the brood nest of the hive, from ambient temperatures of between at least 1 and 25 °C. Captive (inactive) swarms in the laboratory often allowed Tc to decline below 35 °C. 2. The temperature of the swarm mantle (Tm) varied with the general activity of the swarm as well as with ambient temperature (TA), but in captive swarms (and sometimes at night in free swarms), Tm was generally held above 17 °C, even at TA < 5 °C. 3. Within the swarm, temperatures varied between 36 °C, an upper temperature set-point, and 17 °C, a lower temperature set-point. 4. Before swarm take-off, all temperature gradients in the swarm were abolished and Tm equalled Tc. 5. The regulated Tc and Tm were unrelated to size and passive cooling rates in swarms ranging from 1000 to 30000 bees. 6. The weight-specific metabolic rate of swarms was correlated with TA and Tc, but relatively little affected by swarm size. 7. Bees on the mantle experiencing low temperatures pushed inward, thus contracting the mantle, diminishing the mantle porosity, and filling interior passageways. As a result, their own rate of heat loss, as well as that from the swarm core, decreased. 8. In large tightly clumped swarms, even at TA < 5 °C, the resting metabolic rate of the bees in the swarm core was more than sufficient to maintain Tc at 35 °C or above. The active thermoregulatory metabolism was due to the bees on the swarm mantle. 9. There was little physical exchange of bees between core and mantle at low (< 5 °C) TA. In addition, there was no apparent chemical or acoustic communication between the bees in the swarm mantle that are subjected to the changes of the thermal environments and the bees in the swarm interior that constantly experience 35 °C regardless of TA. 10. The data are summarized in a model of Tc control indicating a primary role of the mantle bees in controlling heat production and heat loss. 11. The possible ecological significance of swarm temperature regulation is discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise C Archer ◽  
Stephen A Hutton ◽  
Luke Harman ◽  
W Russell Poole ◽  
Patrick Gargan ◽  
...  

Abstract Metabolic rates vary hugely within and between populations, yet we know relatively little about factors causing intraspecific variation. Since metabolic rate determines the energetic cost of life, uncovering these sources of variation is important to understand and forecast responses to environmental change. Moreover, few studies have examined factors causing intraspecific variation in metabolic flexibility. We explore how extrinsic environmental conditions and intrinsic factors contribute to variation in metabolic traits in brown trout, an iconic and polymorphic species that is threatened across much of its native range. We measured metabolic traits in offspring from two wild populations that naturally show life-history variation in migratory tactics (one anadromous, i.e. sea-migratory, one non-anadromous) that we reared under either optimal food or experimental conditions of long-term food restriction (lasting between 7 and 17 months). Both populations showed decreased standard metabolic rates (SMR—baseline energy requirements) under low food conditions. The anadromous population had higher maximum metabolic rate (MMR) than the non-anadromous population, and marginally higher SMR. The MMR difference was greater than SMR and consequently aerobic scope (AS) was higher in the anadromous population. MMR and AS were both higher in males than females. The anadromous population also had higher AS under low food compared to optimal food conditions, consistent with population-specific effects of food restriction on AS. Our results suggest different components of metabolic rate can vary in their response to environmental conditions, and according to intrinsic (population-background/sex) effects. Populations might further differ in their flexibility of metabolic traits, potentially due to intrinsic factors related to life history (e.g. migratory tactics). More comparisons of populations/individuals with divergent life histories will help to reveal this. Overall, our study suggests that incorporating an understanding of metabolic trait variation and flexibility and linking this to life history and demography will improve our ability to conserve populations experiencing global change.


1978 ◽  
Vol 235 (1) ◽  
pp. R41-R47
Author(s):  
M. T. Lin ◽  
I. H. Pang ◽  
S. I. Chern ◽  
W. Y. Chia

Elevating serotonin (5-HT) contents in brain with 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) reduced rectal temperature (Tre) in rabbits after peripheral decarboxylase inhibition with the aromatic-L-amino-acid decarboxylase inhibitor R04-4602 at two ambient temperatures (Ta), 2 and 22 degrees C. The hypothermia was brought about by both an increase in respiratory evaporative heat loss (Eres) and a decrease in metabolic rate (MR) in the cold. At a Ta of 22 degrees C, the hypothermia was achieved solely due to an increase in heat loss. Depleting brain contents of 5-HT with intraventricular, 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) produced an increased Eres and ear blood flow even at Ta of 2 degrees C. Also, MR increased at all but the Ta of 32 degrees C. However, depleting the central and peripheral contents of 5-HT with p-chlorophenylalanine (pCPA) produced lower MR accompanied by lower Eres in the cold compared to the untreated control. Both groups of pCPA-treated and 5,7-DHT-treated animals maintained their Tre within normal limits. The data suggest that changes in 5-HT content in brain affects the MR of rabbits in the cold. Elevating brain content of 5-HT tends to depress the MR response to cold, while depleting brain content of 5-HT tends to enhance the MR response to cold.


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Frappell ◽  
Andrea Dotta ◽  
Jacopo P. Mortola

Aerobic metabolism (oxygen consumption, [Formula: see text], and carbon dioxide production, [Formula: see text]) has been measured in newborn rats at 2 days of age during normoxia, 30 min of hyperoxia (100% O2) and an additional 30 min of recovery in normoxia at ambient temperatures of 35 °C (thermoneutrality) or 30 °C. In normoxia, at 30 °C [Formula: see text] was higher than at 35 °C. With hyperoxia, [Formula: see text] increased in all cases, but more so at 30 °C (+20%) than at 35 °C (+9%). Upon return to normoxia, metabolism readily returned to the prehyperoxic value. The results support the concept that the normoxic metabolic rate of the newborn can be limited by the availability of oxygen. At temperatures below thermoneutrality the higher metabolic needs aggravate the limitation in oxygen availability, and the positive effects of hyperoxia on [Formula: see text] are therefore more apparent.Key words: neonatal respiration, oxygen consumption, thermoregulation.


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