The nervous system plays an important role in how animals respond to climate change. Thanks to their basic functions (perceiving emotions, mentally processing information, controlling behavior), animals are able to navigate their environments, survive, and reproduce.
The energy balance of ecosystems changes depending on temperature changes. This is also likely to affect vision and basic senses such as taste, smell and touch.
Mammals sense temperature partly through special receptor proteins in their nervous systems. These proteins respond to heat and cold, helping to distinguish between moderate and extreme temperatures. Thanks to these proteins, animals can also search for a suitable living environment.
Climate change is disrupting the environmental cues animals use to choose habitats, find food and find mates. For example, temperature changes change where and when mosquitoes seek hosts and how they transmit diseases.
Additionally, seasonal changes in daylight can disrupt the relationship between day length and plant flowering and fruiting, leading to changes in hibernation and animal migration where day length no longer predicts resource availability.
Rising temperatures can disrupt the development and functioning of the animal’s brain. This can also potentially impact their ability to effectively adapt to a new environment. Scientists have discovered how extreme temperatures can alter individual neurons at the genetic and structural level and the structure of the brain as a whole. For example, in marine environments, ocean acidification can affect scent tracking in reef fish and sharks.
Due to climate change, animals may change their habitats. These behavioral changes will alter the structure of ecosystems worldwide, with complex and unpredictable consequences.
It is known that the brain of animals is very plastic and can change significantly even in adults. However, research has revealed that the environment has a strong impact on brain evolution. Most likely, new climate regimes will eventually shape nervous systems and cause them to evolve.
Source: Ferra
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