CAREER: Physiological and Behavioral Determinants of Energy Use in Tropical Mammals

职业：热带哺乳动物能量使用的生理和行为决定因素

• 批准号: 2045785
• 负责人: Danielle Levesque
• 金额: $ 91.99万
• 依托单位: University of Maine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2045785&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Physiological; Behavioral; Determinants; Energy

The ability to use energetically costly physiological processes to maintain body temperature at levels elevated above ambient temperature or endothermy, is a defining characteristic of mammals. The evolution of endothermy allowed mammals from warm, aseasonal climates to diversify and radiate into previously inhospitable environments as temperatures cooled. Much of what is known about temperature regulation and energetics in mammals, however, has been derived from high latitude, northern hemisphere species whose evolutionary history has been shaped by large changes in temperature and extreme seasonality. To address this gap, the PI will leverage an existing collaboration, to examine the costs of living for nocturnal and diurnal small mammals in the tropical forests of Malaysian Borneo. The PI and her team will collect long term data on the body temperatures, metabolic rates, and life history characteristics of free-living small mammals. A novel, comprehensive database of mammalian physiological and life history traits, will be generated providing access to new, real data as a valuable learning experiences for the impact of climate on mammalian energetics. Education activities will target University of Maine undergraduate and graduate students, and K-12 students throughout Maine. Through first-hand experience with novel datasets from a unique environment, students will learn the importance of thermoregulatory physiology in understanding how animals respond to their environment. By increasing our knowledge of the functional energetics of tropical mammals not only can we understand the mechanisms underpinning current species distributions, but also help to improve our predictions of organismal responses to changing global climates. The ultimate goal of this early career project is to build a framework to better understand the macrophysiology of mammals and better predict their potential responses to a warming world, by integrating physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. A high degree of biodiversity, endemism, and an almost complete lack of basic data physiological data available for small mammals from the Indo-Malayan zoogeographic region, creates an ideal arena in which to stage a long-term project of integrated research and education. The PI and her team seek to answer the following questions: 1) do nocturnal small mammals have more flexible body temperatures than their diurnal counterparts; 2) does it cost more (in terms of energy and water) to be nocturnal or diurnal in a consistently hot and humid environment and, 3) how will these differences affect their ability to respond to climate change. Through answering these questions, the research will generate novel datasets on the physiology and energetics of six or more species of tropical small mammals. When combined with existing data from temperate mammals, these data will be used test hypotheses on the evolution of homeothermy, and the role of energetics in the life history of mammals. Ultimately, the research will generate a comprehensive framework for using mammalian thermoregulatory phenotypes in modeling mammalian responses to climate. The research aims of this proposal will be integrated with education activities that will target undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Maine and K-12 students throughout the state. Through first-hand experience with novel datasets from a unique environments, will learn demonstrate the importance of thermoregulatory physiology in understanding how animals respond to their environment, while providing research and outreach opportunities for junior scientists and the general public. Together the knowledge of the functional energetics of tropical mammals will advance the understanding of mechanisms controlling current species distributions, but also help to improve our predictions of organismal responses to changing global climates.This CAREER proposal was supported by the Integrative Ecological Physiology Program within the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems within the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Program within the Office of Integrative Activities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

使用能量消耗高的生理过程来将体温维持在高于环境温度或恒温的水平的能力是哺乳动物的定义特征。内温性的进化使哺乳动物从温暖的季节性气候中多样化，并随着温度的降低而辐射到以前不适合居住的环境中。 然而，人们对哺乳动物的温度调节和能量学的了解，大部分来自高纬度、北方的物种，它们的进化历史是由温度的巨大变化和极端的季节性所塑造的。 为了解决这一差距，PI将利用现有的合作，研究马来西亚婆罗洲热带森林中夜间和日间小型哺乳动物的生活成本。 PI和她的团队将收集关于自由生活的小型哺乳动物的体温，代谢率和生活史特征的长期数据。一个新的，全面的哺乳动物的生理和生活史特征的数据库，将提供访问新的，真实的数据作为一个宝贵的学习经验，气候对哺乳动物的能量学的影响。教育活动将针对缅因州大学的本科生和研究生，以及整个缅因州的K-12学生。通过从一个独特的环境与新的数据集的第一手经验，学生将学习温度调节生理学在了解动物如何应对他们的环境的重要性。通过增加我们对热带哺乳动物功能能量学的了解，我们不仅可以了解当前物种分布的机制，而且还有助于改善我们对生物体对全球气候变化的反应的预测。这个早期职业项目的最终目标是建立一个框架，以更好地了解哺乳动物的宏观生理学，并通过整合生理学，生态学和进化生物学，更好地预测它们对变暖世界的潜在反应。高度的生物多样性，特有性，以及几乎完全缺乏基本的数据生理数据的小型哺乳动物从印度-马来亚动物地理区域，创造了一个理想的竞技场阶段的综合研究和教育的长期项目。PI和她的团队试图回答以下问题：1）夜间活动的小型哺乳动物是否比白天活动的哺乳动物具有更灵活的体温; 2）在持续炎热和潮湿的环境中，夜间活动或白天活动的成本是否更高（在能量和水方面）; 3）这些差异如何影响它们应对气候变化的能力。通过回答这些问题，该研究将生成关于六种或更多热带小型哺乳动物的生理学和能量学的新数据集。当结合现有的数据从温带哺乳动物，这些数据将被用来测试假说的进化恒温，和能量的作用，在哺乳动物的生活史。最终，这项研究将产生一个全面的框架，利用哺乳动物的体温调节表型来模拟哺乳动物对气候的反应。这项提案的研究目标将与教育活动相结合，这些活动将针对缅因州大学的本科生和研究生以及全州的K-12学生。通过对来自独特环境的新数据集的第一手经验，将学习证明体温调节生理学在了解动物如何应对环境方面的重要性，同时为初级科学家和公众提供研究和推广机会。 热带哺乳动物的功能能量学知识将促进对控制当前物种分布的机制的理解，这一CAREER建议得到了生物科学理事会综合有机体系统司内的综合生态生理学计划和刺激竞争力的既定计划的支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Non-Torpid Heterothermy in Mammals: Another Category along the Homeothermy–Hibernation Continuum

哺乳动物的非迟钝异温性：恒温-冬眠连续体的另一个类别

• DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad094
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Integrative And Comparative Biology
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Levesque, Danielle L.;Breit, Ana M.;Brown, Eric;Nowack, Julia;Welman, Shaun
• 通讯作者: Welman, Shaun