Partitioning of evaporative water loss in white-winged doves: plasticity in response to short-term thermal acclimation.

Abstract

We investigated changes in the relative contributions of respiratory evaporative water loss (REWL) and cutaneous evaporative water loss (CEWL) to total evaporative water loss (TEWL) in response to short-term thermal acclimation in western white-winged doves Zenaida asiatica mearnsii. We measured REWL, CEWL, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production in a partitioned chamber using flow-through respirometry. In doves housed for 2-4 weeks in a room heated to ca. 43 degrees C during the day, TEWL increased from 5.5+/-1.3 mg g(-1) h(-1) at an air temperature (T(a)) of 35 degrees C to 19.3+/-2.5 mg g(-1) h(-1) at T(a)=45 degrees C. In doves housed at room temperature for the same period, TEWL increased from 4.6+/-1.1 mg g(-1) h(-1) at T(a)=35 degrees C to 16.1+/-4.6 mg g(-1) h(-1) at T(a)=45 degrees C. The CEWL of heat-acclimated doves increased from 3.6+/-1.2 mg g(-1) h(-1) (64% of TEWL) at 35 degrees C to 15.0+/-2.1 mg g(-1) h(-1) (78% of TEWL) at T(a)=45 degrees C. Cool-acclimated doves exhibited more modest increases in CEWL, from 2.7+/-0.7 mg g(-1) h(-1) at T(a)=35 degrees C to 7.8+/-3.4 mg g(-1) h(-1) at T(a)=45 degrees C, with the contribution of CEWL to TEWL averaging 53% over this T(a) range. Cool-acclimated doves became mildly hyperthermic (body temperature T(b)=42.9+/-0.4 degrees C) and expended 35% more energy relative to heat-acclimated doves (T(b)=41.9+/-0.6 degrees C) at T(a)=45 degrees C, even though TEWL in the two groups was similar. In each of the two groups, metabolic rate did not vary with T(a), and averaged 7.1+/-0.5 mW g(-1) in cool-acclimated doves and 6.3+/-0.8 mW g(-1) in heat-acclimated doves. The differences in TEWL partitioning we observed between the two experimental groups resulted from a consistently lower skin water vapour diffusion resistance (r(v)) in the heat-acclimated doves. At T(a)=45 degrees C, r(v) in the cool-acclimated doves was 120+/-81 s cm(-1), whereas r(v) in the heat-acclimated doves was 38+/-8 s cm(-1). Our data reveal that in Z. a. mearnsii, TEWL partitioning varies in response to short-term thermal acclimation.