Dr. Liam McGuire
Associate Professor, University of Waterloo, Department of Biology
PI: Prof. John Ratcliffe
November 15, 2024
12 to 1 PM
IB140 & Zoom
Title: Migration ecophysiology: the influence of heterothermy in migrating bats and birds
Abstract: Migration has long fascinated biologists and the public alike. Many small-bodied bats and birds make amazing migratory journeys each year, leading to the inevitable question- How do they do it? As a graduate student studying bat migration, there was little bat literature that I could rely on and instead I used migratory birds as a model. I published a review titled “What can birds tell us about the migration physiology of bats?” in which I outlined the many aspects of migration that I hypothesized would be similar in the two groups, and a few key differences. My research quickly made it clear that the ability to use daily torpor to reduce energetic costs during non-flight periods has a dramatic effect on nearly all aspects of bat migration, including body composition, stopover duration, landscape scale movement patterns, and possibly even survival likelihood. We continue to study bat migration, but have also turned the question around, asking “What can bats tell us about the migration physiology of birds?”. Our recent studies of migrating songbirds have documented many species using some degree of heterothermy, indicating that heterothermic migration strategies in birds may be more common than previously appreciated. Although passerine birds don’t use deep torpor as observed in migrating bats, the use of shallow torpor can reduce the rest-phase energy budget by 20 – 40%. Taken together, it is now clear from empirical, theoretical, and evolutionary studies that variation in thermoregulatory strategy is an important factor for understanding the ecology and evolution of migration.
Visit Liam's Google Scholar page to learn more about his research!