ROA: Physiological Basis for Winter Survival

ROA：冬季生存的生理基础

• 批准号: 8619875
• 负责人: Gary Packard
• 金额: $ 3.87万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1987
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1987-07-01 至 1989-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8619875&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ROA; Physiological; Basis; Winter; Survival

Baby painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) are unlike the young of most other turtles, in that painted turtles hatch from their eggs in late summer or early autumn but seldom emerge from their nest until the following spring. Because the nest itself is shallow, turtles hatching at northerly localities presumably must survive exposure to freezing temperatures over the course of winter. Unfortunately, few measurements have been made of environmental conditions inside nests of painted turtles during winter, so the preceding statement is based largely on conjecture. A viable alternative explanation is that hatchlings survive only in nests situated in relatively warm micro- environments (e.g., beneath insulative snow cover, on south- facing hillsides) and that survivors emerging from nests in the spring have not been exposed to freezing temperatures. This research will be aimed at determining whether temperatures inside nests of painted turtles actually fall to levels in winter that are low enough to cause body fluids to freeze in other terrestrial vertebrates. If hatchlings do, indeed, survive exposure to low temperatures, later investigation will focus on whether survival depends on a capacity for animals to withstand supercooling or whether it is based on an ability for them to sustain partial freezing of body water. The research may ultimately demonstrate the existence of a unique physiological adaption to winter conditions.

小彩龟（学名：Pigemys picta）与小海龟不同， 大多数其他海龟，因为画海龟孵化从他们的 在夏末或初秋产卵，但很少出现从他们的 直到下一个春天。 因为巢穴本身 在北部地区孵化的浅海龟大概必须 在寒冷的环境中存活下来 冬天 不幸的是，几乎没有测量过 画龟巢内的环境条件， 冬天，所以前面的陈述主要是基于 猜想 另一种可行的解释是， 只能在相对温暖的微环境中生存， 环境（例如，在绝缘的积雪覆盖下，在南方， 面对山坡）以及幸存者从巢穴中出现 春天还没有暴露在冰冻的温度下。 这项研究旨在确定是否 彩龟巢穴内的温度实际上会下降到 冬季的水平低到足以导致体液 在其他陆生脊椎动物中冻结。 如果幼鸟也这样， 事实上，暴露在低温下后， 将聚焦于动物的生存是否取决于 承受过冷的能力还是基于 让它们能够维持体内水分的部分冻结。 研究 可能最终证明了一种独特的 对冬季条件的生理适应。