Project dr. Zuzanna Jagiełło – Growing in the Urban Heat – Nestling Fitness & Behaviour in Contrasted Thermal Conditions

28 01 2025

Dr. Zuzanna Jagiełło, a post-doc in the Anthropocene Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, is conducting a project entitled “Growing in the Urban Heat – Nestling Fitness & Behaviour in Contrasted Thermal Conditions”. This initiative has been awarded funding of 49,500 PLN in the Miniatura 8 programme organized by the National Science Centre (NCN).

Dr Jagiełło will investigate the impact of urban heat stress on birds, particularly nestlings of great tits and blue tits in Warsaw, Poland. Urban areas, due to the heat island effect, amplify temperature extremes that pose significant ecological challenges for bird populations.

Using experimental manipulation, dr Jagiełło will explore how nestboxes with different thermal profiles influence nestling behavior and fitness. The study aims to measure various breeding metrics (e.g., clutch size, nestlings number and mortality) and analyze behavioral responses, such as begging intensity, under these modified thermal conditions.

This work builds on a robust experimental setup and an existing long-term monitoring program from the Anthropocene Biology Laboratory, offering critical insights into avian adaptation to urban thermal stress and contributing to efforts to conserve urban biodiversity.