ORCC: Sensory resilience and climate change

Climate change can have harmful impacts on sensory systems, making it hard for animals to sense their environment, find food, and attract mates. This project identifies the specific ways in which climate change impacts the sensory biology and behavior of freshwater fish and uses that knowledge to develop tools to enhance the survival of desert fishes in the southwestern US.

The project begins by measuring the effects of temperature, acidity, water flow rate, and lighting shifts on zebrafish senses. Zebrafish have been well-studied as models for human disease and as sentinels for pollution, such that the results of this project will shed light on the detailed physiological mechanisms underlying the effects of climate change on aquatic animals.

For example, desert fishes in Arizona are being severely threatened by climate change and by the introduction of non-native fishes. Arizona Game and Fish Department researchers have been exploring solutions that involve raising native fishes in hatcheries for future reintroduction into the wild. This project contributes directly to those efforts by using zebrafish to test and develop ways to enhance sensory resilience by manipulating stress, reproductive state, and experiences, and by comparing the sensory abilities of native and non-native desert minnows.

In addition, the project partners with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to share information on desert native fishes with local anglers, K-12 students, and teachers.

Acidification impedes olfaction in aquatic animals, increased temperature impairs tactile sensitivity, and murky water can hamper vision. However, sensory systems are malleable and intertwined, such that when one sensory system becomes unreliable or ineffective, animals may compensate by relying more heavily on other senses. Such compensation may be enhanced or limited by underlying physiological mechanisms that link sensory systems to each other and to other organismal functions.

This project tests whether and to what degree sensory systems are resilient to ecological shifts associated with climate change in aquatic habitats, making use of the expansive genomic toolkit available for zebrafish to place the results in a rich and broad context of cutting-edge neuroscience and genomics research. In addition, the project tests whether resilience can be enhanced by manipulating hormone physiology and recent sensory experiences.

To solidify a foundation for future collaboration with Arizona Game and Fish Department scientists, the project also tests whether sensory differences can explain why native desert fishes survive better than do non-natives in streams with intermittent flow. The project leadership team includes a diverse team of researchers, and engages students in all aspects of the research, including summer internships, career development opportunities in wildlife and biomedical science, and course-based research experiences.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.