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.

使用能量消耗大的生理过程将体温维持在高于环境温度或吸热水平的能力是哺乳动物的一个决定性特征。吸热性的进化使哺乳动物能够从温暖的非季节性气候中多样化，并随着气温变冷而辐射到以前不适宜居住的环境中。 然而，关于哺乳动物的温度调节和能量学的大部分知识都来自于高纬度的北半球物种，这些物种的进化历史是由温度的巨大变化和极端的季节性决定的。 为了解决这一差距，项目负责人将利用现有的合作，研究马来西亚婆罗洲热带森林中夜间和昼间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的小型哺乳动物的体温、代谢率和生活史特征的长期数据。将生成一个关于哺乳动物生理和生活史特征的新颖、全面的数据库，提供新的、真实的数据，作为气候对哺乳动物能量学影响的宝贵学习经验。教育活动将针对缅因大学的本科生和研究生，以及整个缅因州的 K-12 学生。通过对来自独特环境的新颖数据集的第一手经验，学生将了解体温调节生理学在理解动物如何对其环境做出反应方面的重要性。通过增加我们对热带哺乳动物功能能量学的了解，我们不仅可以了解支撑当前物种分布的机制，而且有助于改进我们对不断变化的全球气候的生物反应的预测。这个早期职业项目的最终目标是建立一个框架，通过整合生理学、生态学和进化生物学，更好地了解哺乳动物的宏观生理学，并更好地预测它们对变暖世界的潜在反应。印度-马来亚动物地理区域的小型哺乳动物的高度生物多样性、特有性以及几乎完全缺乏基本数据生理数据，为开展综合研究和教育的长期项目创造了理想的舞台。 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，夜间或白天的成本是否更高（就能源和水而言），3）这些差异将如何影响它们应对气候变化的能力。通过回答这些问题，该研究将生成有关六种或更多热带小型哺乳动物的生理学和能量学的新颖数据集。当与温带哺乳动物的现有数据相结合时，这些数据将用于测试关于恒温进化以及能量学在哺乳动物生命史中的作用的假设。最终，该研究将产生一个综合框架，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。该提案的研究目标将与针对缅因大学本科生和研究生以及全州 K-12 学生的教育活动相结合。通过对来自独特环境的新颖数据集的第一手经验，将学习展示体温调节生理学在了解动物如何应对其环境方面的重要性，同时为初级科学家和公众提供研究和推广机会。 热带哺乳动物功能能量学的知识将促进对控制当前物种分布的机制的理解，同时也有助于改进我们对不断变化的全球气候的生物反应的预测。这项职业提案得到了该部门内综合生态生理学计划的支持生物科学理事会内的综合有机系统和综合活动办公室内的刺激竞争性研究 (EPSCoR) 计划的既定计划。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，并被认为值得支持。

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