Evidence that stress-induced changes in surface temperature serve a thermoregulatory function

Abstract

Changes in body temperature following exposure to stressors have been documented for nearly two millennia, however, the functional value of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested two competing hypotheses to explain stress-induced changes in temperature, with respect to surface tissues. Under the first hypothesis, changes in surface temperature are a consequence of vasoconstriction that occurs to attenuate blood-loss in the event of injury and serves no functional purpose per se; defined as the Haemoprotective Hypothesis. Under the second hypothesis, changes in surface temperature reduce thermoregulatory burdens experienced during activation of a stress response, and thus hold a direct functional value; here, the Thermoprotective Hypothesis. To understand whether stress-induced changes in surface temperature have functional consequences, we tested predictions of the Haemoprotective and Thermoprotective hypotheses by exposing Black-capped Chickadees (n=20) to rotating stressors across an ecologically relevant ambient temperature gradient, while non-invasively monitoring surface temperature (eye region temperature) using infrared thermography. Our results show that individuals exposed to rotating stressors reduce surface temperature and dry heat loss at low ambient temperature and increase surface temperature and dry heat loss at high ambient temperature, when compared to controls. These results support the Thermoprotective Hypothesis and suggest that changes in surface temperature following stress exposure have functional consequences and are consistent with an adaptation. Such findings emphasize the importance of the thermal environment in shaping physiological responses to stressors in vertebrates, and in doing so, raise questions about their suitability within the context of a changing climate.