Increases in humidity will intensify lethal hyperthermia risk for birds occupying humid lowlands.

ABSTRACT: Increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves are expected to elevate the risks of heat-related mortality among birds. Most studies have focused on arid-zone avifaunas and the extent to which risks will increase in other habitats, particularly humid lowlands, remains unclear. We tested the prediction that increasing air temperature and corresponding increases in humidity, and hence wet-bulb temperature (T _W; lowest temperature achievable via adiabatic evaporation), will increase exposure to conditions associated with lethal hyperthermia. We empirically determined maximum T _W (T _W-max) for an Afrotropical forest frugivore, the trumpeter hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator) as T _W-max = 31.7 ± 1.0°C. We then modelled cur

SUBMITTER: Coulson B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12133222 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature