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The effects of urban thermal heterogeneity and feather coloration on oxidative stress and metabolism of pigeons (Columba livia)
Ist Teil von
The Science of the total environment, 2024-02, Vol.912, p.169564-169564, Article 169564
Ort / Verlag
Netherlands: Elsevier B.V
Erscheinungsjahr
2024
Quelle
MEDLINE
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Urbanization stands out as a significant anthropogenic factor, exerting selective pressures on ecosystems and biotic components. A notable outcome of urbanization is thermal heterogeneity where the emergence of Urban Heat Islands is characterized by elevated air and surface temperatures compared to adjacent rural areas. Investigating the influence of thermal heterogeneity on urban animals could offer insights into how temperature variations can lead to phenotypic shifts. Urban pigeons (Columba livia) serve as an excellent model for studying urban thermal effects, given the melanism variations, which are associated with the pleiotropy of the melanocortin system. To examine the development of physiological plasticity in response to urban thermal variations, we conducted a study on pigeons in Santiago, Chile, during the rainy season. We assessed the influence of habitat on physiological traits related to metabolism and antioxidant capacities, which are theoretically affected by feather coloration. Our findings reveal that variations in melanism significantly impact pigeon physiology, affecting both antioxidant capacities and the mitochondrial activity of red blood cells. It was found that higher urban temperatures, from both the current sampling month and the prior sampling month (from CRU TS dataset), were negatively and strongly associated with lower antioxidant and metabolic activities. This suggests that elevated urban temperatures likely benefit the energetic budgets of pigeon populations and mitigate the negative effects of oxidative metabolism, with differential effects depending on feather colorations.
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•Pigeons (Columba livia) serve as a model for understanding the impact of urban thermal conditions and reveal physiological shifts among populations.•Urban thermal heterogeneity influences the blood physiology of pigeons, indicating variations in energetic demands and oxidative responses.•Birds with more uniform plumage coloration have a higher metabolism and exhibit higher antioxidant responses.•Elevated urban temperatures likely benefit the energetic budgets of the pigeon population and mitigate negative effects of oxidative metabolism.