High atmospheric temperatures and 'ambient incubation' drive embryonic development and lead to earlier hatching in a passerine bird.

Simon C Griffith,Enrico Sorato,Mark C Mainwaring,Christa Beckmann

doi:10.1098/rsos.150371

Simon C Griffith, Enrico Sorato + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150371

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Abstract

Tropical and subtropical species typically experience relatively high atmospheric temperatures during reproduction, and are subject to climate-related challenges that are largely unexplored, relative to more extensive work conducted in temperate regions. We studied the effects of high atmospheric and nest temperatures during reproduction in the zebra finch. We characterized the temperature within nests in a subtropical population of this species in relation to atmospheric temperature. Temperatures within nests frequently exceeded the level at which embryo’s develop optimally, even in the absence of parental incubation. We experimentally manipulated internal nest temperature to demonstrate that an average difference of 6°C in the nest temperature during the laying period reduced hatching time by an average of 3% of the total incubation time, owing to ‘ambient incubation’. Given the avian constraint of laying a single egg per day, the first eggs of a clutch are subject to prolonged effects of nest temperature relative to later laid eggs, potentially increasing hatching asynchrony. While birds may ameliorate the negative effects of ambient incubation on embryonic development by varying the location and design of their nests, high atmospheric temperatures are likely to constitute an important selective force on avian reproductive behaviour and physiology in subtropical and tropical regions, particularly in the light of predicted climate change that in many areas is leading to a higher frequency of hot days during the periods when birds breed.

Highlights

Long-term monitoring of reproduction in populations of several well-studied insectivorous passerine species in temperate regions of Europe and North America has provided some of the best empirical evidence of animal adaptation to climatic variation [1]
In October, this threshold was reached on 6% of days (17 days out of 286) for which temperature data were available, whereas it was reached on 58% of days during January (179 out of 307 days)
We have demonstrated that high temperatures in the nest during the pre-incubation egg-laying period result in significant embryonic development prior to the initiation of parental incubation

Summary

Introduction

Long-term monitoring of reproduction in populations of several well-studied insectivorous passerine species in temperate regions of Europe and North America has provided some of the best empirical evidence of animal adaptation to climatic variation [1]. Reproductive success in such species is typically reliant on the coordination of breeding with a short time period of high insect abundance, and many bird species have shifted the timing of egg-laying in line with the changing phenology of their prey [2,3,4]. A couple of recent studies in Australia [13,14] and one in South Africa [15] have demonstrated the adverse effect of high temperatures on the growth rate of nestling passerines either owing to direct effects on the nestlings themselves or through the inhibited foraging activities of their parents

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