Ventilatory and intrapulmonary chemoreceptor sensitivity to CO2 in the burrowing owl

We measured the ventilatory response of anesthetized, unidirectionally ventilated pigeons and burrowing owls to changes in intrapulmonary CO2 concentration and the static CO2 sensitivity of intrapulmonary chemoreceptors (IPC) in these species and the domestic goose. Compared with pigeons, burrowing owls showed a significantly reduced respiratory frequency and amplitude response to increases in FICO2 from 0.05 to 0.10, which corroborates similar findings in intact, awake individuals of the same species. The average static CO2 sensitivity of IPC in geese, pigeons, and burrowing owls, as reflected by the average slope of the linear regressions of receptor discharge frequency on ln(PICO2), was -7.96, -11.1 and -6.87 imp/sec . ln(PICO2), respectively. The sensitivities of individual receptors were normally distributed in geese and pigeons, but skewed in burrowing owls. Therefore, the median CO2 sensitivity [-5.50 imp/sec . ln(PICO2)] is a more appropriate measure of the typical CO2 sensitivity of IPC in burrowing owls. The static CO2 sensitivity of IPC in burrowing owls is the lowest reported for euthermic birds with a normal acid-base balance and may materially contribute to the blunted ventilatory response of these birds to the elevated CO2 levels they encounter in nature.