Hot Birds Research Project
Post-Docs
Dr. Shannon Conradie
Contact Details
Shannon Conradie
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
DST-NRF Centre of Excellence
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch, 7701
South Africa
Email: shannonconradie@gmail.com
I have always enjoyed the outdoors and all aspects of the natural environment. During my schools years my love for biology really began to develop and as a result I enrolled for a B.Sc. Zoology degree at the University of Pretoria. My interest in research was sparked during this time which led me to apply for an honours programme examining the effects of animal-facilitated nutrient transfer across an aquatic-terrestrial interface. Thereafter I undertook a Master’s degree in the Hot Birds Research group under the supervision of Prof. Andrew McKechnie and Prof. Stephan Woodborne. This project focused on modelling bird responses to past, present and future climates. This included examining both acute and chronic heat exposure of birds in the Kalahari Desert. I have recently been awarded my Ph.D., which was supervised by Prof. McKechnie and two additional supervisors, Dr. Susan Cunningham and Prof. Blair Wolf. The aim of my Ph.D was to develop a novel, integrative modelling approach linking the thermal landscape, heat and water fluxes and behavioural decisions and trade-offs for desert bird species. Ultimately, I intend to construct detailed models of survival and reproduction in bird species, which reduces the need for detailed species-specific empirical datasets.
Research Interests
My primary research interest concerns the role of climate change on species distributions. More specifically I am interested in how endotherms physiological performances are influenced by changes in climatic conditions. Further my interests extend to integrating eco-physiology and behavioural ecology with mechanistic, dynamic modelling techniques.
Key Publications
Conradie, S.R., Hall, G., Somers, M.J. and McIntyre, T. (2019). Limited animal-facilitated nutrient transfer across an aquatic-terrestrial interface in a southern African savanna. African Journal of Wildlife Research 49.
Dr. Marc Freeman
Contact
Marc T Freeman
Department of Zoology & Entomology
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, 0002
South Africa
Email: marcfreeman78@gmail.com
I admittedly take immense joy out of searching for and observing animals/plant species that occupy different ecosystems. Birds in particular have intrigued me from a very young age. Some of my earliest memories involve me paging through various bird guides attempting to memorise and learn what makes each species unique. My fascination with birds evolved and grew over time to the point where I became engrossed in attempting to understand how birds interacted with the habitats they occur in as well as with other sympatric species. Fascination grew into a “healthy” obsession and directed me towards my scientific roots of asking questions such as “what influences the occurrence of a species in an area”, “how do disturbance events influence patterns of diversity”, “what environmental pressures drove species to assemble in the way that they are currently and how will this change moving forward”. In light of such curiosity, I decided to embark on a Zoological career to answer these questions more. I have since been privileged to work with and learn from many brilliant-minded people who took the time to train me to address such questions and afforded me the opportunity to be in a position where my passion for birds merged with my professional ambitions.
We have an incredible biosphere, yet we are faced with a myriad of challenges to keep it at a level where it is functional, intact, and connected. Improving our understanding around which factors shape biological communities and how future environmental changes may disrupt or influence the patterns and processes shaping such biological communities will place us in an improved position to better conserve these crucially important systems moving forward.
Research interests
The composition of natural ecosystems and the processes which maintain these systems form a central interest of mine. For this reason, I pursued a degree in Zoology with a special interest in Ornithology and Ecology. My Honours and Masters degrees’ focused on avian landscape ecology, specifically assessing how anthropogenic landscape transformation affected forest bird assemblages. Avian population dynamics and their responses to disturbances in complex natural systems such as forests, woodlands, deserts etc. fascinate me. However, over time it became apparent that in order to understand the functioning of natural systems, multi-disciplinary approaches are fundamentally important. As such, I pursued a PhD in physiology, specifically, adaptive thermoregulation driven by past and current climatic variability across landscapes. I developed several approaches to quantify and make predictions about how bird assemblages will be shaped by anthropogenically driven changes within systems. I also shed light on previously unknown patterns around maximal body temperature which may influence endothermic vulnerability to climatic changes. My current research now aims to improve our understanding around mechanisms which allow for hyperthermic tolerance to extreme heat exposure with emphasis on molecular biology and heat shock protein synthesis.
Key Publications
Freeman, M.T., Coulson, B., Short, J.C., Ngcamphalala, C.A., Makola, M.O., and McKechnie, A.E. Evolution of avian heat tolerance: the role of atmospheric humidity. Ecology 2024;e4279.
Conradie, S.R., Kearney, M.R., Wolf, B.O., Cunningham, S.J., Freeman, M.T., Kemp, R. and McKechnie, A.E. An evaluation of a biophysical model for predicting avian thermoregulation in the heat. Journal of Experimental Biology 226, jeb245066.
McKechnie, A.E., Freeman, M.T., and Brigham, M. 2023. Avian heterothermy: a review of patterns and processes. Integrative and Comparative Biology
Short, J.C., Freeman, M.T. and McKechnie, A.E. 2022. Respirometry protocols for avian thermoregulation at high air temperatures: stepped and steady-state profiles yield similar results. Journal of Experimental Biology 225: jeb244166.
Freeman, M.T., Czenze, Z.J, Schoeman, K. and McKechnie A.E. 2022. Adaptive variation in the upper limits of avian body temperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 119(26): e2116645119.
Czenze, Z.J., Smit, B., van Jaarsveld, B., Freeman, M.T., and McKechnie, A.E. 2022. Caves, crevices and cooling capacity: roost microclimate predicts heat tolerance in bats. Functional Ecology 36(1): 38-50.
Freeman, M.T., Czenze, Z.J., Kemp R., van Jaarsveld, B., Wolf, B.O. and McKechnie, A.E. 2021. Efficient evaporative cooling and pronounced heat tolerance in an eagle-owl, a thick-knee and a sandgrouse. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 799302.
Kemp, R., Freeman, M.T., van Jaarsveld, B., Czenze, Z.J., Conradie, S.R. and McKechnie, A.E. 2020. Sublethal fitness costs of chronic exposure to hot weather vary between sexes in a threatened desert lark. Emu – Austral Ornithology 120(3): 216-229.
Freeman, M.T., Czenze, Z.J., Schoeman, K. and McKechnie, A.E. 2020. Extreme hyperthermia tolerance in the world’s most abundant wild bird. Scientific Reports 10:13098.
Czenze, Z.J., Kemp, R., van Jaarsveld, B., Freeman, M.T., Smit, B., Wolf, B.O. and McKechnie, A.E. 2020. Regularly-drinking desert birds have greater evaporative cooling capacity and higher heat tolerance limits than non-drinking species. Functional Ecology 34:1589–1600.
Freeman, M.T., Olivier, and P.I., van Aarde, R.J. 2018. Matrix transformation alters species-area relationships in fragmented coastal forests. Landscape Ecology 33(2): 307-322
