As part of the project, he will study different species of birds to determine how quickly heat tolerance could evolve and what will happen to our bird populations if tolerance fails to adapt. In the final part, Nord plans to conduct a common-garden experiment with birds from southern Europe and northernmost Scandinavia to test whether the process underlying heat adaptation differ in the north and south, and whether directional selection for heat resilience is already taking place in nature.
Combining traditional ecological and animal physiology techniques with modern genetic modification, Andreas Nord’s project will cover the full range of organismal organisation, from genomics and cellular functions to whole animals. At the end of the action, the project will have painted the most comprehensive picture of the physiological responses of birds in a warmer world to date. This knowledge can provide important guidelines for prioritising the management of protected areas, natural resources, and threatened animal populations, and can also be exploited by industry to improve food security.
“By the end of the project, I hope to be closer to answering three critical questions: whether, and how quickly, birds can become better at handling heat, what happens if they can't, and whether there is already ongoing directional selection towards improved heat tolerance in the wild. The project will also create two new animal models to study birds and heat, which I believe will benefit the research field for many years to come,” says Andreas Nord.