My Research
My interests are broadly in temperature and how it affects wildlife behavior and physiology. Ecological research on temperature focus largely on effects of mean temperature, but averaged, single measurement predictors require context. They do not necessarily speak to drivers of behavior and subsequent physiological outcomes. My focus on temperature variation and the scale of thermal measurements hopes to address mechanical drivers of organism behavior and physiology. My goal is to establish that temperature variation is a separate and equally (if not more) important factor than temperature mean in the scope of ecological influence, given the correct temporal context.
I run multiple field sites across Fayetteville, AR with bird boxes to house Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). I track high frequency temperatures within each box in order to establish temperature mean and variability gradients across and within sites. During the breeding season, I monitor the behavior of the parents by tracking temperatures within the nest itself to determine how environmental temperatures affect their on/off bouts. Post-hatch, I monitor nestling survival, growth rate, and immune condition. My goal is to determine how environmental temperature variation shapes parental care as a whole and how this can affect the physiology of the young.
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My previous research also focused on temperature variation and its impact on breeding behavior. I used Phanaeus vindex dung beetles in a field setting with artificially increased temperatures in order to see how they would shift their breeding behavior in a situation similar to climate change predictions for the year 2100. We found that the beetles did shift their behavior based on temperature variation but not temperature mean. Our findings were published in July 2022:
Kirkpatrick WH, Sheldon KS. 2022 Experimental increases in temperature mean and variance alter reproductive behaviours in the dung beetle Phanaeus vindex. Biology Letters 18: 20220109. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0109
