Do evolutionary constraints on thermal performance manifest at different organizational scales?

Phillips, Benjamin L.; Llewelyn, John; Hatcher, Amberlee; Macdonald, Stewart L.; Moritz, Craig

doi:10.1111/jeb.12526

Cited by 39 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Indeed, many other thermal traits are regularly measured in ectotherms, including the optimal temperature and performance breadth for whole‐animal performances (e.g. sprint speed and gut passage time), critical thermal minimum, and heat shock response (Angilletta et al , Clusella‐Trullas, S. et al , Phillips et al , ). Given the pressing need to understand how species adjust to different climates, studying the interactions between these traits and their association with thermoregulatory behavior and thermal environment should be a high priority.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulatory behaviour explains countergradient variation in the upper thermal limit of a rainforest skink

Llewelyn

Macdonald

Hatcher

et al. 2016

Oikos

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The vulnerability of a terrestrial ectotherm to high environmental temperatures depends on the animal's thermal physiology and thermoregulatory behaviour. These variables – environment, physiology, and behaviour – interact with each other, complicating assessment of species vulnerability to global warming. We previously uncovered a counterintuitive pattern in rainforest sunskinks Lampropholis coggeri: a negative relationship between their critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and the temperature of their environment. Could this result be explained by a three‐way interaction between environment, physiology, and behaviour? Here we find that sunskink thermal preference is correlated positively with CTmax, but, importantly, skinks from hotter environments prefer lower temperatures than conspecifics from cooler environments. In an acclimation experiment, we find that CTmax is plastic and shifts in alignment with acclimation temperature. We also found heritable variation in this trait in a common garden study, but this variation was small relative to the plastic shifts observed in CTmax. Thus, our previous observation of a negative correlation between field CTmax and temperature is explained, at least in part, by the lizard's thermoregulatory behaviour: lizards from hot environments preferentially choose cool microenvironments, and their physiology acclimates to these cooler experienced temperatures. Our results suggest that behavioural adjustments to the environment can produce countergradient variation in physiological traits. More broadly, our work underscores the importance of interactions between environment, behaviour, and physiology in ectotherms. Understanding these interactions will be crucial in assessing vulnerability to climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoregulatory behaviour explains countergradient variation in the upper thermal limit of a rainforest skink

Llewelyn

Macdonald

Hatcher

et al. 2016

Oikos

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“…Skinks were run at one temperature per day, and the test temperatures were in ascending order (in increments of 3-3.5°C). Test temperature order has been shown previously to have no detectable impact on estimates of the thermal performance curve for this species (Phillips et al, 2014). Prior to each trial, skinks were placed individually in sealed 50 mL plastic conical tubes and incubated at the test temperature for 20 min to ensure their body temperature equalled the test temperature.…”

Section: Thermal Optimum For Sprint Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific variation in climate‐relevant traits in a tropical rainforest lizard

Llewelyn

Macdonald

Hatcher

et al. 2016

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim The exceptionally rich biodiversity found in tropical rainforest is under threat from anthropogenic climate change. We recognize the threat, yet we have little knowledge of the capacity of tropical species to adjust their climate sensitivity in response to it. One indicator of a species’ capacity to adjust to different climates is the amount of intraspecific variation observed in its climate‐relevant traits; if a climate‐relevant trait varies, and this variation is correlated with local climates, it suggests the species can adjust the trait to different conditions through either phenotypic plasticity or evolutionary adaptation. Here, we test for intraspecific variation in climate‐relevant traits in a rainforest specialist to shed light on the capacity of such species to adjust to different climates. Location The Wet Tropics Bioregion, Australia. Methods We studied 12 populations of a lizard that is a tropical rainforest specialist, the rainforest sunskink (Lampropholis coggeri), testing for intraspecific variation in four traits that are potentially important in determining a species’ climate sensitivity. The measured traits were as follows: critical thermal minimum, critical thermal maximum, thermal optimum for sprinting, and desiccation rate. Results We found substantial variation both through time and across space in the measured traits, suggesting both strong plasticity and substantial geographic variation. Moreover, trait variation was correlated with local climate variables, suggesting variation reflects adjustment to local conditions. Main conclusions If physiological lability similar to that observed in rainforest sunskinks occurs in tropical rainforest species more generally, these taxa may not be as climatically specialized, and so not as vulnerable to climate change, as previously thought.

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“…, ; Phillips et al. ; Ketola and Saarinen ). Temperature is a major factor affecting species distributions, particularly of ectotherms (Angilletta et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Phillips et al. ). Evolution in stable versus fluctuating thermal environments predicts the appearance of, respectively, specialists in each specific thermal environment and generalists in heterogeneous environments (Berger et al.…”

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confidence: 98%

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Keeping your options open: Maintenance of thermal plasticity during adaptation to a stable environment

et al. 2015

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Phenotypic plasticity may allow species to cope with environmental variation. The study of thermal plasticity and its evolution helps understanding how populations respond to variation in temperature. In the context of climate change, it is essential to realize the impact of historical differences in the ability of populations to exhibit a plastic response to thermal variation and how it evolves during colonization of new environments. We have analyzed the real-time evolution of thermal reaction norms of adult and juvenile traits in Drosophila subobscura populations from three locations of Europe in the laboratory. These populations were kept at a constant temperature of 18ºC, and were periodically assayed at three experimental temperatures (13ºC, 18ºC, and 23ºC). We found initial differentiation between populations in thermal plasticity as well as evolutionary convergence in the shape of reaction norms for some adult traits, but not for any of the juvenile traits. Contrary to theoretical expectations, an overall better performance of high latitude populations across temperatures in early generations was observed. Our study shows that the evolution of thermal plasticity is trait specific, and that a new stable environment did not limit the ability of populations to cope with environmental challenges.

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Do evolutionary constraints on thermal performance manifest at different organizational scales?

Cited by 39 publications

References 41 publications

Thermoregulatory behaviour explains countergradient variation in the upper thermal limit of a rainforest skink

Thermoregulatory behaviour explains countergradient variation in the upper thermal limit of a rainforest skink

Intraspecific variation in climate‐relevant traits in a tropical rainforest lizard

Keeping your options open: Maintenance of thermal plasticity during adaptation to a stable environment

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