Phenotypic responses to temperature in the ciliate <i>Tetrahymena thermophila</i>

Melo, Vanessa Weber de; Lowe, Robert; Hurd, Paul J.; Petchey, Owen L.

doi:10.1002/ece3.6486

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…For comparison, the total amount of phenotypic variation (heritable or not) in our initial population was 94 (units of

normalμ

m 3 squared), so the heritable portion of that total phenotypic variation would be on the order of 1%. Shifts in T. pyriformis phenotype have also been shown to occur differentially across environmental conditions (DeLong et al, 2017; Weber de Melo et al, 2020), again suggesting the occurrence of plasticity and very low heritability in this species, and providing support for the above mechanism of response of body size on density.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Feedbacks between size and density determine rapid eco‐phenotypic dynamics

et al. 2022

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1. Body size is a fundamental trait linked to many ecological processes-from individuals to ecosystems. Although the effects of body size on metabolism are well-known, the potential reciprocal effects of body size and density are less clear. Specifically, (a) whether changes in body size or density more strongly influence the other and (b) whether coupled rapid changes in body size and density are due to plasticity, rapid evolutionary change or a combination of both.2. Here, we address these two issues by experimentally tracking population density and mean body size in the protist Tetrahymena pyriformis as it grows from low density to carrying capacity. We then use Convergent Cross Mapping time series analyses to infer the direction, magnitude and causality of the link between body size and population dynamics. We confirm the results of our analysis by experimentally manipulating body size and density while keeping the other constant. Last, we fit mathematical models to our experimental time series that account for purely plastic change in body size, rapid evolution in size, or a combination of both, to gain insights into the processes that most likely explain the observed dynamics.3. Our results indicate that changes in body size more strongly influence changes in density than the other way around, but also show that there is reciprocity in this effect (i.e., a feedback). We show that a model that only accounts for purely plastic change in size most parsimoniously explains observed, coupled phenotypic and ecological dynamics.4. Together, these results suggest (a) that body size can shift dramatically through plasticity, well within ecological timescales, (b) that rapid changes in body size may have a larger effect on population dynamics than the reverse, but (c) phenotypic and population dynamics influence each other as populations grow.Overall, we show that rapid plastic changes in functional traits like body size may play a fundamental-but currently unrecognized-role in familiar ecological processes such as logistic population growth.

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“…For comparison, the total amount of phenotypic variation (heritable or not) in our initial population was 94 (units of

normalμ

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Feedbacks between size and density determine rapid eco‐phenotypic dynamics

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For comparison, the total amount of phenotypic variation (heritable or not) in our initial population was 94 (units of Wm 3 squared), so the heritable portion of that total phenotypic variation would be of the order of ~1%, in agreement with our model selection results. Shifts in T. pyriformis phenotype have also been shown to occur differentially across environmental conditions (DeLong et al 2017;Weber de Melo et al 2020), again suggesting the occurrence of plasticity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shifts in T. pyriformis phenotype have also been shown to occur differentially across environmental conditions (DeLong et al . 2017; Weber de Melo et al . 2020), again suggesting the occurrence of plasticity and very low heritability in this species, and providing support for the above mechanism of response of body size on density.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feedbacks between size and density determine rapid eco-phenotypic dynamics

Gibert

Han

Wieczynski

et al. 2021

Preprint

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1. Body size is a fundamental trait linked to many ecological processes-from individuals to ecosystems. Although the effects of body size on metabolism are well-known, how body size influences, and is influenced by, population growth and density is less clear. Specifically, 1) whether body size, or population dynamics, more strongly influences the other, and, 2) whether observed changes in body size are due to plasticity or rapid evolutionary change, are not well understood. 2. Here, we address these two issues by experimentally tracking population density and mean body size in the protist Tetrahymena pyriformis as it grows from low density to carrying capacity. We then use state-of-the-art time-series analyses to infer the direction, magnitude, and causality of the link between body size and ecological dynamics. Last, we fit two alternative dynamical models to our empirical time series to assess whether plasticity or rapid evolution better explains changes in mean body size. 3. Our results clearly indicate that changes in body size precede and determine changes in population density, not the other way around. We also show that a model assuming that size changes via plasticity more parsimoniously explains these observed coupled phenotypic and ecological dynamics than one that assumes rapid evolution drives changes in size. 4. Together these results suggest that rapid, plastic phenotypic change not only occurs well within ecological timescales but may even precede -and causally influence- ecological dynamics. Furthermore, large individuals may be favored and fuel high population growth rates when population density is low, but smaller individuals may be favored once populations reach carrying capacity and resources become scarcer. Thus, rapid plastic changes in functional traits may play a fundamental and currently unrecognized role in familiar ecological processes like logistic population growth.

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“…morphological, behavioural and physiological) are more rarely investigated (e.g. [58,59]). Here we show that changes in temperature induce the expression of plasticity in all tested traits in five Tetrahymena species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity can reverse the relative extent of intra- and interspecific variability across a thermal gradient

Jacob

Legrand

2021

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Intra- and interspecific variability can both ensure ecosystem functions. Generalizing the effects of individual and species assemblages requires understanding how much within and between species trait variation is genetically based or results from phenotypic plasticity. Phenotypic plasticity can indeed lead to rapid and important changes of trait distributions, and in turn community functionality, depending on environmental conditions, which raises a crucial question: could phenotypic plasticity modify the relative importance of intra- and interspecific variability along environmental gradients? We quantified the fundamental niche of five genotypes in monocultures for each of five ciliate species along a wide thermal gradient in standardized conditions to assess the importance of phenotypic plasticity for the level of intraspecific variability compared to differences between species. We showed that phenotypic plasticity strongly influences trait variability and reverses the relative extent of intra- and interspecific variability along the thermal gradient. Our results show that phenotypic plasticity may lead to either increase or decrease of functional trait variability along environmental gradients, making intra- and interspecific variability highly dynamic components of ecological systems.

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Phenotypic responses to temperature in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila

Cited by 10 publications

References 56 publications

Feedbacks between size and density determine rapid eco‐phenotypic dynamics

Feedbacks between size and density determine rapid eco‐phenotypic dynamics

Feedbacks between size and density determine rapid eco-phenotypic dynamics

Phenotypic plasticity can reverse the relative extent of intra- and interspecific variability across a thermal gradient

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