Understanding the impact of heat stress on cognition in a changing world

我们的研究将确定人为气候变化如何影响动物在其环境中处理信息的能力。这项研究意义重大，因为它直接解决了野生动物适应气候变化这一日益严重的问题。如果在澳大利亚和全球野生动物中广泛报道的热应激损害了动物对周围环境刺激的反应能力，那么这可能会导致繁殖成功率降低（例如捕食者检测率降低）和人口下降。我们的目标是确定临界温度点，超过该温度点，动物的认知反应迅速下降-这是面对快速气候变化时有效野生动物管理优先事项的重要发现。

Our research will determine how anthropogenic climate change effects the ability of animals to process information in their environment. This research is significant because it directly addresses the growing issue of wildlife adaptation to climate change. If heat stress, reported widely in wildlife both in Australia and globally, impairs an animal's ability to respond to stimuli in its surrounding environment, then this may cause lower reproductive success (eg lower predator detection rates) and population declines. We aim to identify critical temperature points beyond which the cognitive responses of animals decline rapidly - a significant finding for effective wildlife management priorities in the face of rapid climate change.