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Water balance in desert birds ‐ challenges in a rapidly warming environment
Author(s) -
Wolf Blair O.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.976.4
Subject(s) - water balance , desert (philosophy) , climate change , ecology , osmoregulation , global warming , balance (ability) , evaporative cooler , desert climate , biology , environmental science , geography , meteorology , arid , salinity , neuroscience , geology , philosophy , geotechnical engineering , epistemology
Osmoregulation in desert birds involves a complex interplay of physiology, morphology and behavior that has been carefully documented over the last five decades. Rapid warming of the Earth's surface is producing significant new physiological challenges for many species; the potential capacity for individuals and species cope with these new challenges is of significant conservation interest. Here, we examine avenues and mechanisms of water intake and loss, and how warmer environments will affect the ability of birds in deserts to effectively cope with these challenges. Increased water requirements associated with greater demands for evaporative cooling may have differential impacts across species because of differences in body size, diet, and the evaporative mechanism employed. We show that adjustments in behavior and physiology, e. g. renal, performance may fail to compensate for these increased demands and result in changes in specie's distributions and community structure. Support or Funding Information Funding provided by NSF IOS‐122228