Research Projects

Climate change is warming the planet at an alarming rate, and living organisms respond differently to warming. Projected increases in global temperatures of 2°C by 2100 can lead to range losses for more than 10000 species, landing them on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ¹, with several local extinction events being associated with climate change ¹-³. Species with limited geographic ranges and narrow tolerance to environmental fluctuations are particularly susceptible to extreme weather events ³. The promising news is that some species respond to climate change by shifting their ranges to cooler habitats by either moving to higher latitudes/altitudes ⁴,⁵, while others can adapt to these changes locally. Animals can adapt to their changing environments in three ways: behaviourally, morphologically, or physiologically ⁶. Some behavioural adaptations include a seasonal shift in activity patterns; or a shift in daily activity as seen in both ungulates and canids ⁷-⁹. These animals that are typically daytime active (diurnal), are shifting their activity towards cooler nights to overcome hot summer days ⁷-⁹. Others are seeking thermal refuge in hot summers by resting in cooler microhabitats that offer more shade than the ambient air temperature ⁸ ¹⁰. Still others use evaporative cooling mechanisms like panting, gular fluttering, and cutaneous evaporation to cool their bodies on hot days ¹¹ ¹². It is therefore clear that even if they live in the same habitat, diurnal and nocturnal species can be affected differently by environmental variation. Climate change could differentially affect activity and thermoregulatory costs of these groups and we are interested in studying how diurnal vs nocturnal species respond ¹³. Studies show that nocturnal nightjars have more efficient evaporative cooling mechanisms like daytime gular fluttering compared to diurnal passerines (which include sunbirds) that use panting (can replenish water loss by drinking) ¹¹. Other diurnal birds, like doves, have efficient cooling via cutaneous evaporation ¹². What we do not know is how activity patterns, metabolic and thermoregulatory costs of diurnal and nocturnal birds change with climate change. We aim to integrate approaches from ecology and whole-animal physiology to study free-living birds and their potential responses to climate change. We will collect and synthesise four types of data each from three bird species: one diurnal with an efficient cooling mechanism, one diurnal passerine with inefficient panting, and one nocturnal bird, across latitudes and seasons. We will record their activity patterns; collect data on the weather and food availability (e.g., nectar, insects), and finally, collect energetics data. We will then integrate these data to model these species’ responses to future climate scenarios and predict which groups are more vulnerable. This is important for implementing effective conservation action against the backdrop of climate change.