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.

使用能量昂贵的生理过程能够将体温保持在高于环境温度或原位的水平上，这是哺乳动物的定义特征。吸热的进化使哺乳动物从温暖的，浅绿色的气候中多样化并散发到以前的荒凉环境中，随着温度冷却。 然而，关于哺乳动物中温度调节和能量学的许多已知性是从高纬度的北半球物种中得出的，这些物种的进化史因温度和极端季节性的巨大变化而塑造了。 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昼夜小型哺乳动物的生活成本。 PI和她的团队将收集有关自由生活小型哺乳动物的体温，代谢率和生活历史特征的长期数据。将生成一个新颖的，全面的哺乳动物生理和生活历史特征数据库，可为气候对哺乳动物能量的影响提供访问新的，真实的数据作为宝贵的学习经验。教育活动将针对缅因大学的本科生和研究生，以及缅因州的K-12学生。通过从独特环境中的新型数据集的第一手经验，学生将了解热调节生理学在理解动物如何对其环境反应的重要性。通过提高我们对热带哺乳动物功能能量学的了解，我们不仅可以理解为当前物种分布的机制，而且还有助于改善我们对变化全球气候的有机体反应的预测。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巨摩托学，并通过整合生理学，生态学和进化生物学来更好地预测其对温暖世界的潜在反应。高度的生物多样性，经典性以及几乎完全缺乏基本数据生理数据可用于印度 - 马来亚动物地理区域的小型哺乳动物，创造了一个理想的舞台，可以在其中进行长期的综合研究和教育项目。 PI和她的团队试图回答以下问题：1）夜间小型哺乳动物的身体温度比昼夜的哺乳动物更灵活； 2）在始终炎热潮湿的环境中，夜间或昼夜的成本（在能量和水方面）是否会产生更多的成本，3）这些差异将如何影响他们对气候变化的反应能力。通过回答这些问题，该研究将生成有关六种或更多种热带小型哺乳动物的生理和能量学的新型数据集。当与温带哺乳动物的现有数据结合使用时，这些数据将用于对植物的演变的测试假设，以及能量学在哺乳动物生活史中的作用。最终，这项研究将产生一个综合框架，用于在对哺乳动物对气候的反应进行建模时，使用哺乳动物的温度调节表型。该提案的研究目的将与教育活动集成，该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。通过从独特环境中的新型数据集的第一手经验，将学习表明，调节生理学在了解动物如何对其环境的反应中的重要性，同时为初级科学家和公众提供研究和推广机会。 了解热带哺乳动物的功能能量学的知识将提高对控制当前物种分布的机制的理解，同时也有助于改善我们对变化全球气候变化的有机体反应的预测。该职业的建议得到了综合生态生理学计划的支持反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估值得支持。

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