Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry

Tomlinson, Sean; Dalziell, Emma L.; Withers, Philip C.; Lewandrowski, Wolfgang; Dixon, Kingsley W.; Merritt, David J.

doi:10.1242/jeb.172874

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…We quantified routine metabolic rate (hereafter referred to as metabolic rate [MR]) as our measurements likely included the energetic costs of random movements (Withers 1992;Mathot and Dingemanse 2015). MR was measured as the volume of CO 2 production per unit time ( VCO 2 mL min −1 ) as CO 2 production is less susceptible to fluctuations in water vapour and signals are more easily detected in smaller organisms (Lighton 2008;Tomlinson et al 2018). CO 2 production was strongly correlated with O 2 consumption in any case (r = 0.81, p < 2.2e −16 ) with RQ values averaging 0.77 (SD = 0.41, n obs = 198).…”

Section: Planned Missing Data and Metabolic Rate At Different Tempera...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of developmental temperatures on thermal plasticity and repeatability of metabolic rate

2022

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Phenotypic plasticity is an important mechanism that allows populations to adjust to changing environments. Early life experiences can have lasting impacts on how individuals respond to environmental variation later in life (i.e., individual reaction norms), altering the capacity for populations to respond to selection. Here, we incubated lizard embryos (Lampropholis delicata) at two fluctuating developmental temperatures (cold = 23 ºC + / − 3 ºC, hot = 29 ºC + / − 3 ºC, ncold = 26, nhot = 25) to understand how it affected metabolic plasticity to temperature later in life. We repeatedly measured individual reaction norms across six temperatures 10 times over ~ 3.5 months (nobs = 3,818) to estimate the repeatability of average metabolic rate (intercept) and thermal plasticity (slope). The intercept and the slope of the population-level reaction norm was not affected by developmental temperature. Repeatability of average metabolic rate was, on average, 10% lower in hot incubated lizards but stable across all temperatures. The slope of the thermal reaction norm was overall moderately repeatable (R = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.035 – 0.93) suggesting that individual metabolic rate changed consistently with short-term changes in temperature, although credible intervals were quite broad. Importantly, reaction norm repeatability did not depend on early developmental temperature. Identifying factors affecting among-individual variation in thermal plasticity will be increasingly more important for terrestrial ectotherms living in changing climate. Our work implies that thermal metabolic plasticity is robust to early developmental temperatures and has the capacity to evolve, despite there being less consistent variation in metabolic rate under hot environments.

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Section: Planned Missing Data and Metabolic Rate At Different Tempera...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of developmental temperatures on thermal plasticity and repeatability of metabolic rate

2022

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“…at initial densities of 50 inds. 60 . Oxygen consumption (mLO2 mL -1 s -1 ) was converted to watts mL -1 using a conversion factor of 20J (W*s) per mL of O2 61 .…”

Section: Community Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple traits predict complex temperature responses across scales

Wieczynski

Singla

Doan

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Microbial communities regulate ecosystem responses to climate change. But predicting these responses is challenging due to complex interactions among processes at multiple ecological scales. Organismal traits that determine individual performance and ecological interactions are essential for scaling up predictions of environmental responses from individuals to ecosystems. We combine experiments and mathematical models to show that key microbial traits—cell size, shape, and cell contents—independently drive shifts in demographic rates across temperatures, having cascading effects on community structure, dynamics, and ecosystem function. Moreover, intra- and interspecific trait variation play distinct, trait-specific roles in temperature responses. These species-level responses scale up to cause predictable, nonlinear shifts in microbial community composition and respiration rates, with direct implications for the effects of warming on the global carbon cycle. Mechanistically linking microbes with climate using traits will help refine predictions about complex ecosystem-climate feedbacks and the pace of climate change.

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“…Despite the vast diversity of species, we observe a near universal energy requirement per unit mass of tissue. This generalization excludes species capable of cryptobiosis (such as tardigrades, brine shrimp, and Chironomidae), which exhibit virtually no metabolic activity while in a state of suspended animation, making them better suited for interstellar flight [30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52].…”

Section: High Radiation Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

The First Interstellar Astronauts Will Not Be Human

Lantin,

Mendell,

Akkad

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Our ability to explore the cosmos by direct contact has been limited to a small number of lunar and interplanetary missions. However, the NASA Starlight program points a path forward to send small, relativistic spacecraft far outside our solar system via standoff directed-energy propulsion. These miniaturized spacecraft are capable of robotic exploration but can also transport seeds and organisms, marking a profound change in our ability to both characterize and expand the reach of known life. Here we explore the biological and technological challenges of interstellar space biology, focusing on radiation-tolerant microorganisms capable of cryptobiosis. Additionally, we discuss planetary protection concerns and other ethical considerations of sending life to the stars.

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Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry

Cited by 12 publications

References 48 publications

Impact of developmental temperatures on thermal plasticity and repeatability of metabolic rate

Impact of developmental temperatures on thermal plasticity and repeatability of metabolic rate

Simple traits predict complex temperature responses across scales

The First Interstellar Astronauts Will Not Be Human

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