The thermal performance curve for aerobic metabolism of a flying endotherm

Glass, Jordan R.; Harrison, Jon F.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.0298

Cited by 13 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The combined number of species in these three families (Colletidae, ~2600 species; Andrenidae, ~3000; Halictidae, ~4500; Danforth et al, 2019) amount to a half of the ~20,000 bee species worldwide (Ascher & Pickering, 2020) and nearly doubles that of the most‐frequently investigated family (Apidae, ~6000 species). It seems safe to predict, therefore, that future studies on bee thermal biology encompassing a broader, less phylogenetically biased spectrum of species will disclose that strong endothermy is far less frequent among bees than it has been sometimes implied or hypothesized; that predominantly or exclusively ectothermic bees comprise a sizeable fraction of bee pollinator communities worldwide; and that further studies on bee thermal biology in a broad phylogenetic context might reveal that endothermy is only weakly related to broader thermal niches (Glass & Harrison, 2022; Vicens & Bosch, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality of pollinators in montane habitats: Cool‐blooded bees for early‐blooming plants

Herrera

Núñez

Aguado³

et al. 2023

Ecological Monographs

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Understanding the factors that drive community‐wide assembly of plant‐pollinator systems along environmental gradients has considerable evolutionary, ecological, and applied significance. Variation in thermal environments combined with intrinsic differences among pollinators in thermal biology have been proposed as drivers of community‐wide pollinator gradients, but this suggestion remains largely speculative. We test the hypothesis that seasonality in bee pollinator composition in Mediterranean montane habitats of southeastern Spain, which largely reflects the prevalence during the early flowering season of mining bees (Andrena), is a consequence of the latter's thermal biology. Quantitative information on seasonality of Andrena bees in the whole plant community (275 plant species) and their thermal microenvironment was combined with field and laboratory data on key aspects of the thermal biology of 30 species of Andrena (endothermic ability, warming constant, relationships of body temperature with ambient and operative temperatures). Andrena bees were a conspicuous, albeit strongly seasonal component of the pollinator assemblage of the regional plant community, visiting flowers of 153 different plant species (57% of total). The proportion of Andrena relative to all bees reached a maximum among plant species which flowered in late winter and early spring, and declined precipitously from May onward. Andrena were recorded only during the cooler segment of the annual range of air temperatures experienced at flowers by the whole bee assemblage. These patterns can be explained by features of Andrena's thermal biology: null to weak endothermy; ability to forage at much lower body temperature than strongly endothermic bees (difference ~ 10°C); low upper tolerable limit of body temperature, beyond which thermal stress presumably precluded foraging at the warmest period of year; weak thermoregulatory capacity; and high warming constant enhancing ectothermic warming. Our results demonstrate the importance of lineage‐specific pollinator traits as drivers of seasonality in community‐wide pollinator composition; show that exploitation of cooler microclimates by bees does not require strong endothermy; and suggest that intense endothermy and precise thermoregulation probably apply to a minority of bees. Medium‐ and large‐sized bees with low upper thermal limits and weak thermoregulatory ability can actually be more adversely affected by climate warming than large, hot‐blooded, extremely endothermic species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality of pollinators in montane habitats: Cool‐blooded bees for early‐blooming plants

Herrera

Núñez

Aguado³

et al. 2023

Ecological Monographs

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“…However, at the time, no studies had measured a thermal performance curve for flight metabolism for any endothermic insects, so this conjecture could not be tested. In the present study, and in our recent studies ( Glass and Harrison, 2022 ; Glass et al, 2024 ), we address this decades-old controversy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

A thermal performance curve perspective explains decades of disagreements over how air temperature affects the flight metabolism of honey bees

Glass,

Harrison

2024

Journal of Experimental Biology

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While multiple studies have shown that honey bees and some other flying insects lower their flight metabolic rates when flying at high air temperatures, critics have suggested such patterns result from poor experimental methods as, theoretically, air temperature should not appreciably affect aerodynamic force requirements. Here, we show that apparently contradictory studies can be reconciled by considering the thermal performance curve of flight muscle. We show that prior studies that found no effects of air temperature on flight metabolism of honey bees achieved flight muscle temperatures that were near or on equal, opposite sides of the thermal performance curve. Honey bees vary their wing kinematics and metabolic heat production to thermoregulate, and how air temperature affects the flight metabolic rate of honey bees is predictable using a non-linear thermal performance perspective of honey bee flight muscle.

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“…5) underpins the need of an experimental foundation for theoretical considerations. We suggest this change with T a to originate from the change of the function of the abdominal muscles for tracheal ventilation with T a (compare 47,48 ), because abdominal temperature follows T a more closely than the temperature of other body parts (e.g. 7,18 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A mixed model of heat exchange in stationary honeybee foragers

Stabentheiner

Kovac

2023

Sci Rep

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During foraging honeybees are always endothermic to stay ready for immediate flight and to promote fast exploitation of resources. This means high energetic costs. Since energy turnover of foragers may vary in a broad range, energetic estimations under field conditions have remained uncertain. We developed an advanced model, combining the benefits of mechanistic and correlative models, which enables estimation of the energy turnover of stationary foragers from measurements of body surface temperature, ambient air temperature and global radiation. A comprehensive dataset of simultaneously measured energy turnover (ranging from 4 to 85 mW) and body surface temperature (thorax surface temperature ranging from 33.3 to 45 °C) allowed the direct verification of model accuracy. The model variants enable estimation of the energy turnover of stationary honeybee foragers with high accuracy both in shade and in sunshine, with SD of residuals = 5.7 mW and R2 = 0.89. Its prediction accuracy is similar throughout the main range of environmental conditions foragers usually experience, covering any combination of ambient air temperature of 14–38 °C and global radiation of 3–1000 W m−2.

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The thermal performance curve for aerobic metabolism of a flying endotherm

Cited by 13 publications

References 48 publications

Seasonality of pollinators in montane habitats: Cool‐blooded bees for early‐blooming plants

Seasonality of pollinators in montane habitats: Cool‐blooded bees for early‐blooming plants

A thermal performance curve perspective explains decades of disagreements over how air temperature affects the flight metabolism of honey bees

A mixed model of heat exchange in stationary honeybee foragers

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