Behavior in a hot world: mechanisms and consequences of heat stress on behavioral performance

气温上升对整个生命之树的生物都是一个全球性的挑战。最新研究表明，高温会影响对繁殖和生存至关重要的行为，比如择偶和觅食，而这些影响发生在远低于导致死亡的温度下。这项研究的核心目的是了解这些行为是如何受到温度升高的影响的。该研究结合了机制和功能方法，以斑胸草雀为研究对象，为个体在高温下行为表现的变化提供了新的见解。作为干旱地区的鸟类，斑胸草雀是对日益增加的高温威胁做出行为反应的哨兵物种。核心研究目标也将融入相互关联的教育和推广活动。这些努力的核心是田纳西大学科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育与外媒团体之间的新合作，以开发、实施和评估新的K12课程材料，在行为和热生态学的交叉点上，在支持K12教室和STEM教师管道的过程中，在经济上处于不利地位的东田纳西州阿巴拉契亚地区。急性热刺激对动物行为的亚致死效应尚未得到充分研究，特别是对与交配相关的行为，如广告和配偶选择。这种知识上的差距对于恒温动物来说尤其明显，它们能够调节体温，但仍然面临越来越普遍和越来越严重的热暴露。目前迫切需要确定这些热行为影响的范围和行为热耐受性的关键驱动因素。为了满足这一需求，本研究以一种已被充分研究过的鸟类斑马雀（Taeniopygia guttata）为对象进行了对照实验，以实现两个目标：(1)通过实验生成行为热反应曲线，重点关注雄性和雌性的鸣叫偏好；(2)测试预暴露于热环境下如何改变行为表现。通过解决这些目标，本研究实现了确定热暴露对行为的机制和后果的总体目标。满足这项研究的研究目标将建立强大的理论，功能，行为反应，以应对日益增加的热威胁。在此过程中，本提案将评估行为在当今最紧迫的全球挑战之一中的关键作用。这项工作是由行为系统集群和综合生态生理学项目共同资助的，两者都在综合有机体系统部门。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Rising temperatures are a global challenge to organisms across the tree of life. Emerging research suggests that high temperatures can affect behaviors critical to reproduction and survival, such as choosing a mate and foraging, and that these effects occur at temperatures well below those that cause death. The core aim of this study is to generate understanding of how such behaviors are affected by elevated temperatures. The study combines mechanistic and functional approaches to provide new insights into individual-level variation in behavioral performance in heat using zebra finches as the study organism. As an arid-zone bird, zebra finches are a sentinel species for behavioral responses to the ever-increasing threat of heat. The core research aim will also be woven into inter-related educational and outreach activities. The centerpiece of these efforts is a new collaboration between Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and outreach groups at the University of Tennessee to develop, implement and assess new K12 curricular materials at the intersection of behavioral and thermal ecology, in the process supporting K12 classrooms and a STEM teacher pipeline in the economically disadvantaged Appalachian region of East Tennessee.The sub-lethal effects of acute thermal challenges on animal behavior are not well-studied, particularly for mating-related behaviors such as advertisement and mate choice. This gap in knowledge is especially marked for endotherms, which are capable of thermoregulation but nevertheless face increasingly common and increasingly severe heat exposure. There is an urgent need to identify the scope of these behavioral effects of heat and the key drivers of behavioral thermal tolerance. To meet this need, the proposed research uses controlled experiments with a well-studied avian species, zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), to address two aims: (1) experimentally generate behavioral thermal response curves, focused on male song and female preferences and (2) test how pre-exposure to heat alters behavioral performance under thermally challenging conditions. By addressing these aims, this research achieves the overall goal of identifying the mechanisms and consequences of heat exposure on behavior. Meeting the study's research objectives will build robust theory on functional, behavioral responses to the ever-increasing threat of heat. In doing so, this proposal will evaluate the critical role of behavior in one of today's most pressing global challenges. This work is co-funded by the Behavioral Systems Cluster and the Integrative Ecological Physiology Program, both in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.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.