Evaporative water loss from endotherms in thermally and hygrically complex environments: An empirical approach for interspecific comparisons

Welch, William R.

doi:10.1007/bf00691028

Cited by 22 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…We assumed that the air was saturated with water vapour in the lungs at the average body temperature integrated radially from the core to the skin. Exhaled air was assumed to be 2°C warmer than local air temperature at each hour (Porter et al, 2000;Welch, 1980). The minimum core-skin temperature difference under which the bird could not dissipate the heat efficiently enough to maintain homeostasis was set at 0.1°C (Porter et al, 2000).…”

Section: Physiological Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic modelling predicts energetic bottleneck for seabirds wintering in the northwest Atlantic

Fort

Porter

Grémillet

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

113

107

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SUMMARYStudying the energetics of marine top predators such as seabirds is essential to understand processes underlying adult winter survival and its impact on population dynamics. Winter survival is believed to be the single most important life-history trait in long-lived species but its determinants are largely unknown. Seabirds are inaccessible during this season, so conventional metabolic studies are extremely challenging and new approaches are needed. This paper describes and uses a state-of-the-art mechanistic model, Niche Mapper TM , to predict energy expenditure and food requirements of the two main seabird species wintering in the northwest Atlantic. We found that energy demand increased throughout the winter phase in both species. Across this period, mean estimated daily energy requirements were 1306 kJ day -1 for Brünnich's guillemots (Uria lomvia) and 430 kJ day -1 for little auks (Alle alle) wintering off Greenland and Newfoundland. Mean estimated daily food requirements were 547 g wet food day -1 for Brünnich's guillemots, and 289 g wet food day -1 for little auks. For both species and both wintering sites, our model predicts a sharp increase in energy expenditure between November and December, primarily driven by climatic factors such as air temperature and wind speed. These findings strongly suggest the existence of an energetic bottleneck for North Atlantic seabirds towards the end of the year, a challenging energetic phase which might explain recurrent events of winter massmortality, so called 'seabird winter wrecks'. Our study therefore emphasizes the relevance of thermodynamics/biophysical modelling for investigating the energy balance of wintering marine top predators and its interplay with survival and population dynamics in the context of global change.

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Section: Physiological Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamic modelling predicts energetic bottleneck for seabirds wintering in the northwest Atlantic

Fort

Porter

Grémillet

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

113

107

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“…Linear declines in EWL with RH have been reported for a variety of other mammals (Chew and Dammann 1961;Baudinette 1972;Kay 1977;Christian 1978;Edwards and Haines 1978;Welch 1980). This makes it difficult to evaluate if there is EWL control, or if the decrease in EWL with increasing RH is consistent with physical predictions, because there is no theoretical slope for the effect of RH on EWL (Welch 1980;Eto et al 2017;Withers 2017, 2020). However, EWL/Δwvp should theoretically be independent of RH (slope = 0) for the physical model since Δwvp is the biophysical driving force.…”

Section: Effect Of Rh On Ewl and Ewl/δwvpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Alpine Marsupials Regulate Evaporative Water Loss, Suggesting a Thermoregulatory Role Rather than a Water Conservation Role

Withers

Cooper

Körtner

et al. 2022

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

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What is already known:There is growing evidence that "insensible" EWL is under acute physiological control for mammals and birds. Both mesic and arid-habitat parrots have a similar capacity to control their EWL, suggesting a thermoregulatory rather than water balance role for birds. What this study adds:We demonstrate that small mesic-habitat mammals can physiologically control their "insensible" EWL and that EWL control is not restricted to mammals from arid environments. The efficacy of EWL control by mesic antechinus was comparable to that of arid-habitat marsupials and this, combined with the response of other physiological variables to relative humidity, support the hypothesis that evaporative water loss regulation serves a thermoregulatory purpose for mammals.

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“…up the water mass balance equation variables. Exit temperature can be estimated based on environmental conditions and the animal's exit respiratory surface properties (Welch 1980). For cutaneous water loss we assumed that 0.2% of the skin functioned as a free water surface to account for the eyes and thin skin.…”

Section: The Endotherm Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Po'ouli landscape bioinformatics models predict energetics, behavior, diets, and distribution on Maui

Porter

Vakharia

Klousie

et al. 2006

Integrative and Comparative Biology

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This study uses a spatially explicit microclimate/biophysical approach to examine the potential distribution of the Po'ouli on Maui to find either new habitats to search for existence or refine search efforts in previously occupied areas. We used specific physiological and behavioral ecology bird data, and Po'ouli morphological and spectral data obtained from museum specimens to address ecological and conservation-related questions about the Po'ouli that are otherwise very difficult to quantify. Laboratory and field tested microclimate and biophysical-behavioral animal computer models were integrated with remote sensing technologies. To show that the generic microclimate and endotherm models can predict metabolic and water loss requirements of Hawaiian Honeycreepers, we used the 2 species with known physiological properties, the Hawaiian Amakihi, Hemignathus virens, and the Hawaiian Anianiau, Hemignathus parvus. Predictions were within experimental measurement error of the laboratory measurements. Then using field rather than laboratory conditions as input data, we predict the field distribution of the Amakihi on Maui as the first spatial test of the models applied to birds. Results are consistent with Amakihi field distribution data. Fossils show that the Po'ouli once lived on Maui at low elevations in dry/mesic habitats on a likely diet of native tree snails and insects. The arrival of lethal mosquito-borne avian malaria in Hawaii exterminated low elevation Po'ouli forcing a population shift to mountain rainforests and possibly a snail diet instead of insects. To explore the maximum consequences of such a diet shift we assumed exclusive diets of snails versus insects at both low and high elevations. Snail diets require ∼4 times higher foraging rates than do insect diets, making a predominantly snail diet an unlikely prospect for the Po'ouli. Landscape scale simulations suggest that a snail diet would force a Po'ouli distribution inconsistent with observations. A predominantly insect diet is consistent with distribution observations. We show that as local environmental conditions change across the landscape in space and diurnal/seasonal time it is possible to quantify animal physiological and behavioral consequences of those variations in their local environment. This enables quantification of the requisite spatial and temporal distribution and amount or availability of resources that may affect species' potential for survival, growth, reproduction and distribution.

show abstract

Evaporative water loss from endotherms in thermally and hygrically complex environments: An empirical approach for interspecific comparisons

Cited by 22 publications

References 24 publications

Thermodynamic modelling predicts energetic bottleneck for seabirds wintering in the northwest Atlantic

Thermodynamic modelling predicts energetic bottleneck for seabirds wintering in the northwest Atlantic

Small Alpine Marsupials Regulate Evaporative Water Loss, Suggesting a Thermoregulatory Role Rather than a Water Conservation Role

Po'ouli landscape bioinformatics models predict energetics, behavior, diets, and distribution on Maui

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