No trade-off between high and low temperature tolerance in a winter acclimatized Danish Drosophila subobscura population

Sørensen, Jesper Givskov; Kristensen, Torsten Nygaard; Loeschcke, Volker; Schou, Mads Fristrup

doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.03.014

Cited by 31 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example in D. subobscura, low winter and early spring temperatures led to simultaneously increased low and high temperature tolerance as compared to benign laboratory acclimation (Sørensen et al . ). We compared plasticity as well as basal levels of high and low temperature tolerance (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Linear reaction norms of thermal limits in Drosophila: predictable plasticity in cold but not in heat tolerance

et al. 2016

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Summary Thermal limits of ectotherms have been studied extensively and are believed to be evolutionarily constrained, leaving ectotherms at risk under future climate change. Phenotypic plasticity may extend the thermal limits, but we lack detailed characterizations of thermal limit reaction norms as well as an understanding of the interspecific variation in these reaction norms. Here, we investigated the interspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity of thermal limits in 13 Drosophila species. We obtained high‐resolution reaction norms for upper and lower thermal limits across the permissive developmental thermal range (12·5–30 °C). The estimated phenotypes were then associated (while accounting for phylogeny) with climatic parameters from the species’ distributional range. All species showed linear reaction norms for cold tolerance (CTmin) and heat tolerance (CTmax) across developmental acclimation temperatures. We observed strong beneficial cold acclimation to lower temperatures in all species. Conversely, the heat acclimation response was non‐existent in some species, and decreasing or increasing with increasing developmental acclimation temperatures in other species. The degree of phenotypic plasticity of CTmin and CTmax was related neither to the basal thermal limits (trade‐off hypothesis) nor to climatic parameters connected to latitudinal distributions (latitudinal hypothesis). A substantial and linear developmental plasticity of lower thermal limits is a general characteristic of Drosophila species, which allows for straightforward application in species distribution models. In general, upper thermal limits also show linear norms of reaction, but their adaptive significance is limited and highly variable among species, making general predictions across species rather impossible. High‐resolution estimates of norms of reaction of thermal limits can considerably increase our understanding of the capacity of ectotherms to acclimate to different thermal environments. However, our understanding of the environmental drivers of the evolution of phenotypic plasticity and thus of the interspecific differences remains ambiguous, potentially constrained by limited microclimate information. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12782/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Linear reaction norms of thermal limits in Drosophila: predictable plasticity in cold but not in heat tolerance

et al. 2016

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“…Many studies predict future distributions of ectotherms based on CTmax, CTmin and thermal performance curves, which are estimated from ectotherms acclimated to benign laboratory conditions [9,46–51]. A recent study on Drosophila subobscura found large increases in both cold and heat resistance of flies sampled in Denmark during winter [52]. The trade-off between heat and cold resistance as a result of winter acclimatization in D .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Costs and Benefits of Winter Acclimatization in Drosophila melanogaster

2015

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Studies on thermal acclimation in insects are often performed on animals acclimated in the laboratory under conditions that are not ecologically relevant. Costs and benefits of acclimation responses under such conditions may not reflect costs and benefits in natural populations subjected to daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations. Here we estimated costs and benefits in thermal tolerance limits in relation to winter acclimatization of Drosophila melanogaster. We sampled flies from a natural habitat during winter in Denmark (field flies) and compared heat and cold tolerance of these to that of flies collected from the same natural population, but acclimated to 25 °C or 13 °C in the laboratory (laboratory flies). We further obtained thermal performance curves for egg-to-adult viability of field and laboratory (25 °C) flies, to estimate possible cross-generational effects of acclimation. We found much higher cold tolerance and a lowered heat tolerance in field flies compared to laboratory flies reared at 25 °C. Flies reared in the laboratory at 13 °C exhibited the same thermal cost-benefit relations as the winter acclimatized flies. We also found a cost of winter acclimatization in terms of decreased egg-to-adult viability at high temperatures of eggs laid by winter acclimatized flies. Based on our findings we suggest that winter acclimatization in nature can induce strong benefits in terms of increased cold tolerance. These benefits can be reproduced in the laboratory under ecologically relevant rearing and testing conditions, and should be incorporated in species distribution modelling. Winter acclimatization also leads to decreased heat tolerance. This may create a mismatch between acclimation responses and the thermal environment, e.g. if temperatures suddenly increase during spring, under current and expected more variable future climatic conditions.

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“…The trade-off between cold and heat tolerance induced by developmental plasticity or adult acclimation seems not to rely on a genetic correlation between these traits (Hoffmann et al, 2003) and is not found in all species (Nyamukondiwa et al, 2013;Sørensen et al, 2015). If the trade-off is a consequence of a mechanistic or physiological link, it may drastically influence the ability of ectotherms to attain adaptive phenotypes for cold and heat tolerance in temporally changing thermal environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reversibility of developmental heat and cold plasticity is asymmetric and has long lasting consequences for adult thermal tolerance

Slotsbo

Schou

Kristensen

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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The ability of insects to cope with stressful temperatures through adaptive plasticity has allowed them to thrive under a wide range of thermal conditions. Developmental plasticity is generally considered to be a non-reversible phenotypic change, e.g. in morphological traits, while adult acclimation responses are often considered to be reversible physiological responses. However, physiologically mediated thermal acclimation might not follow this general prediction. We investigated the magnitude and rate of reversibility of developmental thermal plasticity responses in heat and cold tolerance of adult flies, using a full factorial design with two developmental and two adult temperatures (15 and 25°C). We show that cold tolerance attained during development is readily adjusted to the prevailing conditions during adult acclimation, with a symmetric rate of decrease or increase. In contrast, heat tolerance is only partly reversible during acclimation and is thus constrained by the temperature during development. The effect of adult acclimation on heat tolerance was asymmetrical, with a general loss of heat tolerance with age. Surprisingly, the decline in adult heat tolerance at 25°C was decelerated in flies developed at low temperatures. This result was supported by correlated responses in two senescenceassociated traits and in accordance with a lower rate of ageing after low temperature development, suggesting that physiological age is not reset at eclosion. The results have profound ecological consequences for populations, as optimal developmental temperatures will be dependent on the thermal conditions faced in the adult stage and the age at which they occur.

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No trade-off between high and low temperature tolerance in a winter acclimatized Danish Drosophila subobscura population

Cited by 31 publications

References 35 publications

Linear reaction norms of thermal limits in Drosophila: predictable plasticity in cold but not in heat tolerance

Linear reaction norms of thermal limits in Drosophila: predictable plasticity in cold but not in heat tolerance

Strong Costs and Benefits of Winter Acclimatization in Drosophila melanogaster

Reversibility of developmental heat and cold plasticity is asymmetric and has long lasting consequences for adult thermal tolerance

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