Latent heat loss of Holstein cows in a tropical environment: a prediction model

Nine lactating Holstein cows with average 526 ± 5 kg of BW, five predominantly black and four predominantly white, bred in a tropical region and managed in open pasture were observed to measure cutaneous and respiratory evaporation rates under different environmental conditions. Cows were separated in three weight class: 1 (<450 kg), 2 (450-500 kg) and 3 (>500 kg). Latent heat loss from cutaneous surface was measured using a ventilated capsule; evaporation in the respiratory system was measured using a facial mask. The results showed that heaviest cows (2 and 3 classes) presented the least evaporation rates. When air temperature increased from 10 to 36ºC the relative humidity decreased from 90 to 30%. In these conditions the heat loss by respiratory evaporation increased from 5 to 57 Wm-2, while the heat loss by cutaneous evaporation increased from 30 to 350 Wm-2. The results confirm that latent heat loss was the main way of thermal energy elimination under high air temperatures (>30ºC); cutaneous evaporation was the main mechanism of heat loss, responding for about 85% of the heat loss. A model was presented for the prediction of the latent heat loss that was based on physiological and environmental variables and could be used to estimate the contribution of evaporation to thermoregulation; a second, based on air temperature only, should be used to make a simple characterization of the evaporation process.

Mass, temperature and metabolic effects on discontinuous gas exchange cycles in eucalyptus-boring beetles (Coleoptera: cerambycidae)

Ventilatory accommodation of changing metabolic rates is a relatively little-studied aspect of the discontinuous gas exchange cycles (DGCs) that occur in a wide variety of terrestrial arthropods. We used correlation analysis of resting metabolic rate (RMR, measured as the rate of CO(2) emission; V(CO2)) and several components of the DGC to examine accommodation to both temperature-induced changes and individual variation in RMR in two wood-boring beetles (Phorocantha recurva and P. semipunctata; Coleoptera: Cerambycidae).At low to moderate ambient temperatures (T(a); 10–20 degrees C), Phorocantha spp. displayed a characteristic DGC with relatively brief but pronounced open (O) phase bursts of CO(2) emission separated by longer periods of low V(CO2), the flutter (F) phase. However, the V(CO2) never fell to zero, and we could not reliably differentiate a typical closed (C) phase from the F phase. Accordingly, we pooled the C and F phases for analysis as the C+F phase. At higher T(a) (30 degrees C), the duration of the combined C+F phase was greatly reduced. There were no differences between the two species or between males and females in either RMR or characteristics of the DGC. We found large variation in the major DGC components (cycle frequency, durations and emission volumes of the O and C+F phases); much of this variation was significantly repeatable. Accommodation of temperature-induced RMR changes was almost entirely due to changes in frequency (primarily in the C+F phase), as has been found in several other discontinuously ventilating arthropods. Frequency changes also contributed to accommodation at constant T(a), but modulation of emission volumes (during both O and C+F phases) played a larger role in this case.The DGC is often viewed as a water conservation mechanism, on the basis that respiratory evaporation is minimal during the C and F phases. This hypothesis assumes that the F phase is primarily convective (because of a reduction in tracheal P(O2) and total intratracheal pressure during the C phase). To test this, we measured the DGC in beetles subjected to varying degrees of hypoxia in addition to normoxia. As predicted for a largely diffusive F phase, we found an increase in the volume of CO(2) emitted during the C+F phase in hypoxic conditions (10.4 % oxygen). This finding, together with a reduced tendency to utilize a DGC at high T(a) (when water stress is greatest) and a natural history in which water availability is probably not limiting for any life stage, suggests that a reduction of respiratory evaporation may not have been critical in the evolution of the DGC of Phorocantha spp. Instead, selection may have favored discontinuous ventilation because it facilitates gas exchange in the hypercapnic and hypoxic environments commonly encountered by animals (such as Phorocantha spp.) that live in confined spaces.

The thermoregulatory mechanism of melatonin-induced hypothermia in chicken

The involvement of melatonin (Mel) in body temperature (Tb) regulation was studied in White Leghorn layers. In experiment 1, 35 hens were injected intraperitoneally with seven doses of Mel (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 mg Mel/kg body wt) dissolved in ethanol. Within 1 h, Mel had caused a dose-dependent reduction in Tb. To eliminate a possible vehicle effect, 0, 80, and 160 mg/kg body wt Mel dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) was injected. NMP had no effect on Tb, with Mel again causing a dose-dependent hypothermia. In experiment 2 ( n= 30), Mel injected before exposure of layers to heat reduced Tb and prevented heat-induced hyperthermia. Injection after heat stress had begun did not prevent hyperthermia. Under cold stress, Mel induced hypothermia, which was not observed in controls. In experiment 3 ( n= 12), Mel injection reduced Tband increased metatarsal and comb temperatures (but not feathered-skin temperature), respiratory rate, and evaporative water loss. Heart rate rose and then declined, and blood pressure increased 1 h after Mel injection. Heat production rose slightly during the first hour, then decreased in parallel to the Tbdecline. We conclude that pharmacological doses of Mel induce hypothermia in hens by increasing nonevaporative skin heat losses and slightly increasing respiratory evaporation.

Temperature Regulation by Respiratory Evaporation in Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers of the species Schistocerca nitens (Thünberg), Locusta migratoria (L.) and Tmethis pulchripennis (Bolivar) are able to withstand air temperatures higher than lethal internal temperature (48 °C) for more than an hour, during which time they maintain an internal temperature as much as 8°C below air temperature. Rates of evaporation at high air temperatures are much greater than those observed for cuticular transpiration alone. The rate of evaporation and the ventilation frequency remain relatively constant at temperatures of up to about 45°C, above which they both increase markedly. The depression of internal temperature thus appears to be caused by increased tracheal ventilation for evaporative cooling. This finding contradicts the common assumption that evaporative cooling is of little adaptive advantage for thermoregulation in insects. In L. migratoria, the increase in ventilation appears to be achieved almost entirely by an increase in frequency of ventilation, although other species may alter tidal volume as well.

Flight Physiology of Intermediate-Sized Fruit Bats (Pteropodidae)

Up to eight physiological parameters were measured on members of four species of fruit bats with a size range of 0.188-0.650 kg as they flew in a wind tunnel. Regression lines were calculated for the relationships between body masses of bats and their power inputs (P1), heart and respiratory rates. These were compared to similar relationships for flying birds. Respiratory evaporation dissipated only 10% of the heat produced. At ambient temperatures (Ta) above 15°C, heat loss was facilitated by vasodilation of feet and wing membranes, but this mechanism became less effective at high Ta when thermal differential between wings and air was reduced. Bats are apparently unable to increase greatly their respiratory evaporation, and overheated at Ta of 25–30°C. At low Ta) the flight ability of two bats was reduced, suggesting that reduced coordination or even freezing of wings might be a general problem for bats flying at Ta close to 0°C. The endurance of three bats was so much greater near the middle of their speed ranges that the maximum flight distances ought to be achieved at these velocities, even though the cost of transport would be lower at higher speeds. Endurance at an airspeed was proportional to the relative power input (Pi/Pi,min) raised to the power of −7.45; flying at a speed that raised Pi/Pi,min by 10% reduced endurance by half.

Cardiovascular and respiratory responses to heat in dehydrated dogs

The effect of dehydration on rectal temperature, respiratory frequency, upper respiratory evaporation, cardiac output, and common carotid blood flow was studied in large mongrel dogs at rest at ambient temperatures between 25 and 45 degrees C. Measurements were made in animals hydrated ad libitum and when they had been dehydrated by removal of drinking water. In hydrated animals, mean body weight was 31.6 +/- 1.7 (SE) kg and plasma osmolality was 296 +/- 2 mosmol/kg H2O. Dehydration decreased body weight to 28.2 +/- 1.5 kg and increased osmolality to 328 +/- 5 mosmol/kg H2O. At all ambient temperatures, every dehydrated animal had a higher rectal temperature, lower respiratory frequency, lower upper respiratory evaporation, lower cardiac output, and lower common carotid blood flow. Rectal temperature, measured in seven animals, was constant as ambient temperature was raised from 25 to 45 degrees C in both the hydrated and dehydrated state, but was elevated by 0.72 degrees C in dehydrated animals. Hypothalamic temperature, measured in two animals, was elevated less than rectal temperature when they were dehydrated. Upper respiratory evaporation and respiratory frequency, measured in seven animals, increased with increasing ambient temperature in both the hydrated and the dehydrated dogs, but were lower at every ambient temperature in dehydrated animals. Cardiac output, measured in five animals, was lower in dehydrated animals at every ambient temperature.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Respiration in exercising fowl. II. Respiratory water loss and heat balance

1. Respiratory water loss and rectal temperature were measured in domestic fowl running for 10 min on a treadmill at speeds of 1.24-4.3 km h-1 in air temperatures of 20 +/− 2 degrees C or 32 +/− 2 degrees C. 2. At given speeds the water loss at 32 +/− 2 degrees C was approximately twice that at 20 +/− 2 degrees C and the end-exercise rectal temperature was 0.5-0.8 degrees C higher. 3. At 20 +/− 2 degrees C, respiratory evaporation accounted for 10–12% of the total metabolic energy used at all speeds. At 32 +/− 2 degrees C, the fractional respiratory heat loss fell from 26.5% at 1.24 km h-1 to 17% at 3.6 km h-1. The fraction of the total metabolic energy stored as body heat rose progressively with air temperature.

Temperature Regulation and Heat Balance in Flying White-necked Ravens, Corvus Cryptoleucus

During level flight at 10 m.s−1 in a wind tunnel, white-necked ravens (Corvus cryptoleucus, mass 0·48 kg) exhibited an increase in body temperature to steady-state levels as high as 45°C, exceeding resting levels by nearly 3°C. This reflects the storage of up to half of the metabolic heat produced (Hp) during 5 min of flight. During steady-state flight, body heat was dissipated in part by respiratory evaporation and convection (13–40% of Hp) evoked by increases in ventilation proportional to body temperature. Remaining heat was lost by cutaneous evaporation (10% of Hp) as well as by radiation and convection from the external body surface. The results suggest strategies that might be used by ravens during flight under desert conditions.