International Research Fellowship Program: Effects of Water Balance and Body Size on Thermoregulation in Australian Amphibians

翠西：国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Christopher R. Tracy博士与Keith a. Christian博士在澳大利亚达尔文市北领地大学开展为期24个月的研究。该项目涉及探索10种密切相关的澳大利亚蛙（Hylidae科）物种的体温调节，蒸发冷却竞争过程和体型之间的关系，这些物种已知具有广泛的蒸发失水率和体型。为了做到这一点，他们将开发一个生物物理模型，利用青蛙的物理和生理特性（失水率、表面积、体重、颜色）和气候条件（相对湿度、太阳辐射、环境温度）来确定体型和蒸发失水（EWL）率的组合，使青蛙能够有效地调节温度。然后，他们将在一系列与环境相关的温度下测量每种青蛙的EWL和表现（冲刺速度、跳跃距离）。然后在实验室测量温度选择，以确定每个物种是否选择一个狭窄的温度范围，这是温度调节的一个指示。他们还将在野外使用无线电遥测（大型物种）和直接观察和测量来测量体温和行为，以确定野生青蛙是否真的将温度调节到一个狭窄的范围内。然后，他们将确定EWL，体型和物种选择温度的精度之间是否存在关系，并预测EWL较低和体型较小的物种将能够更好地调节温度，因此选择更窄的范围。了解青蛙与环境相互作用的生理和生理限制，将有助于深入了解人类栖息地改造对青蛙物种的潜在影响。它将帮助我们了解哪些物种更容易因栖息地的改变而灭绝，比如森林砍伐、城市化甚至全球气候变化。克里斯蒂安在温度调节研究方面有着悠久的历史，在温度调节研究中涉及的重要科学问题的技术和广泛的知识方面有着深厚的专业知识。

TracyThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-four month research fellowship by Dr. Christopher R. Tracy to work with Dr. Keith A. Christian at Northern Territory University in Darwin, Australia.This project involves the exploration of the relationship between thermoregulation, the competing process of evaporative cooling, and body size in 10 closely related Australian frog species (in family Hylidae) that are known to have a wide range of evaporative water loss rates and body sizes. To do this, they will develop a biophysical model that uses physical and physiological properties of frogs (water loss rates, surface area, body mass, color) and climate conditions (relative humidity, solar radiation, ambient temperature) to determine what combinations of body size and evaporative water loss (EWL) rates allow frogs to thermoregulate effectively. They will then measure EWL and performance (sprint speed, hopping distance) for each species of frog across a range of environmentally relevant temperatures. Temperature selection will then be measured in the lab to determine whether each species selects a narrow range of temperatures, an indication of thermoregulation. They will also measure body temperatures and behaviors in the field using radio telemetry (larger species) and direct observations and measurements to determine whether wild frogs actually regulate temperature to a narrow range. They will then determine whether there is a relationship between EWL, body size and the precision with which a species selects temperature, with the prediction that these species with lower EWL and smaller body sizes will be better able to regulate temperatures, and therefore select a narrower range. Understanding the physical and physiological constraints on how frogs interact with their environment will lend insights into the potential impacts of human habitat modification on frog species. It will help us understand which species are more susceptible to extinction due to habitat modifications like deforestation, urbanization or even global climate change.Dr. Christian has a long history of research on temperature regulation and a great depth of expertise in the techniques and extensive knowledge of the important scientific questions involved in the study of thermoregulation.