Physiological Performance Curves: When Are They Useful?

Heat and desiccation tolerances predict bee abundance under climate change

Climate change could pose an urgent threat to pollinators, with critical ecological and economic consequences. However, for most insect pollinator species, we lack the long-term data and mechanistic evidence that are necessary to identify climate-driven declines and predict future trends. Here we document 16 years of abundance patterns for a hyper-diverse bee assemblage1 in a warming and drying region2, link bee declines with experimentally determined heat and desiccation tolerances, and use climate sensitivity models to project bee communities into the future. Aridity strongly predicted bee abundance for 71% of 665 bee populations (species × ecosystem combinations). Bee taxa that best tolerated heat and desiccation increased the most over time. Models forecasted declines for 46% of species and predicted more homogeneous communities dominated by drought-tolerant taxa, even while total bee abundance may remain unchanged. Such community reordering could reduce pollination services, because diverse bee assemblages typically maximize pollination for plant communities3. Larger-bodied bees also dominated under intermediate to high aridity, identifying body size as a valuable trait for understanding how climate-driven shifts in bee communities influence pollination4. We provide evidence that climate change directly threatens bee diversity, indicating that bee conservation efforts should account for the stress of aridity on bee physiology.

Fish reproduction in a warming world: vulnerable points in hormone regulation from sex determination to spawning

Reproduction in fishes is sensitive to temperature. Elevated temperatures and anomalous 'heat waves' associated with climate change have the potential to impact fish reproductive performance and, in some cases, even induce sex reversals. Here we examine how thermal sensitivity in the hormone pathways regulating reproduction provides a framework for understanding impacts of warmer conditions on fish reproduction. Such effects will differ depending on evolved variation in temperature sensitivity of endocrine pathways regulating reproductive processes of sex determination/differentiation, gametogenesis and spawning, as well as how developmental timing of those processes varies with reproductive ecology. For fish populations unable to shift geographical range, persistence under future climates may require changes in temperature responsiveness of the hormone pathways regulating reproductive processes. How thermal sensitivity in those hormone pathways varies among populations and species, how those pathways generate temperature maxima for reproduction, and how rapidly reproductive thermal tolerances can change via adaptation or transgenerational plasticity will shape which fishes are most at risk for impaired reproduction under rising temperatures. This article is part of the theme issue 'Endocrine responses to environmental variation: conceptual approaches and recent developments'.

Latitude-Induced and Behaviorally Thermoregulated Variations in Upper Thermal Tolerance of Two Anuran Species

Although thermal tolerance along geographical gradients gives an insight into species' response to climate change, current studies on thermal tolerance are strongly skewed towards global-scale patterns. As a result, intraspecific variations are often assumed to be constant, despite a lack of evidence. To understand population-specific responses to thermal stress, we investigated the presence of intraspecific variations in the critical thermal maximum (CTmax) of tadpoles in two anuran species, Rana uenoi and Bufo sachalinensis. The study was conducted across a five-degree latitudinal gradient in the Republic of Korea. We exposed the tadpoles to increasing temperatures and recorded the CTmax for 270 R. uenoi individuals from 11 sites, collected in rice paddies, and for 240 B. sachalinensis individuals from ten sites, collected in reservoirs. We also recorded the swimming performance and behavior of the tadpoles when placed in an experimental apparatus during CTmax measurements. We then used linear regressions to determine the relationship between abiotic factors and CTmax. In R. uenoi, we found a positive relationship between latitude and CTmax, but the tadpoles did not display specific thermoregulatory behaviors. In B. sachalinensis, none of the abiotic factors such as climate and geographic coordinates were related to CTmax, but we detected a tendency to swim close to the water surface when water temperature was increasing. For R. uenoi, we tentatively relate the CTmax variability across the latitudinal gradient to a physiological adaptive response associated with habitat characteristics that are assumed to be fluctuating, as the species inhabits small water bodies prone to drying out. In the case of B. sachalinensis, the behavior observed may be linked to oxygen depletion and thermoregulation, as it may buffer temperature changes in the absence of physiological adjustment. These findings suggest that intra-specific variations in CTmax are greater than generally accounted for, and thermal conditions of natural environments are important for understanding thermal tolerance in ectothermic species. Our results highlight that species' specific responses to climate warmings need to be studied to better protect species against climate change.

Different traits at different rates: The effects of dynamic strain rate on structural traits in biology

Phenotypic diversity is influenced by physical laws that govern how an organism's morphology relates to functional performance. To study comparative organismal biology, we need to quantify this diversity using biological traits (definable aspects of the morphology, behavior, and/or life history of an organism). Traits are often assumed to be immutable properties that need only be measured a single time in each adult. However, organisms often experience changes in their biotic and abiotic environments that can alter trait function. In particular, structural traits represent the physical capabilities of an organism and may be heavily influenced by the rate at which they are exposed to physical demands ('loads'). For instance, materials tend to become more brittle when loaded at faster rates which could negatively affect structures trying to resist those loads (e.g., brittle materials are more likely to fracture). In the following perspective piece, we address the dynamic properties of structural traits and present case studies that demonstrate how dynamic strain rates affect the function of these traits in diverse groups of organisms. First, we review how strain rate affects deformation and fracture in biomaterials and demonstrate how these effects alter puncture mechanics in systems such as snake strikes. Second, we discuss how different rates of bone loading affect the locomotor biomechanics of vertebrates and their ecology. Through these examinations of diverse taxa and ecological functions, we aim to highlight how rate-dependent properties of structural traits can generate dynamic form-function relationships in response to changing environmental conditions. Findings from these studies serve as a foundation to develop more nuanced ecomechanical models that can predict how complex traits emerge and, thereby, advance progress on outlining the Rules of Life.

Individual Variation in Thermal Reaction Norms Reveals Metabolic-Behavioral Relationships in an Ectotherm

Ectothermic organisms respond to rapid environmental change through a combination of behavioral and physiological adjustments. As behavioral and physiological traits are often functionally linked, an effective ectotherm response to environmental perturbation will depend on the direction and magnitude of their association. The role of various modifiers in behavioral-physiological relationships remains largely unexplored. We applied a repeated-measures approach to examine the influence of body temperature and individual variation on the link between resting metabolic rate (RMR) and exploratory locomotor activity (ELA) in juvenile Alpine newts, Ichthyosaura alpestris. We analyzed trait relationships at two body temperatures separately and as parameters, intercepts and slopes, of thermal reaction norms for both traits. Body temperature affected the level of detectable among-individual variation in two different directions. Among-individual variation in ELA was detected at 12°C, while RMR was repeatable at 22°C. We found no support for a link between RMR and ELA at either temperature. While analysis of intercepts revealed among-individual variation in both traits, among-individual variation in slopes was detected in RMR only. Intercepts were positively associated at the individual, but not the whole-phenotypic, level. For ELA, the target of selection should be individual trait values across temperatures, rather than their thermal sensitivities. The positive association between intercepts of thermal reaction norms for ELA and RMR suggests that phenotypic selection acts on both traits in a correlated fashion. Measurements at one body temperature and within-individual variation hide the metabolic-behavioral relations. We conclude that correlative studies on flexible behavioral and physiological traits in ectotherms require repeated measurement at two or more body temperatures in order to avoid misleading results. This approach is needed to fully understand ectotherm responses to environmental change and its impact on their population dynamics.

Effects of Early Thermal Environment on Growth, Age at Maturity, and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Arctic Charr

The effects of early thermal environment on growth, age at maturity, and sexual size dimorphism in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) are investigated. This study is a 654-day long rearing trial split into two sequential experimental phases termed EP1 and EP2 and lasting 315 and 339 days, respectively. EP1 started at the end of the yolk sac stage when the experimental fish were divided into three groups and reared at different target temperatures (7, 10 and 12 °C). During EP2, all groups were reared at the same temperature (7–8 °C) until harvest (~1300 g). Growth rates increased with temperature from 7 to 12 °C, and at the end of EP1 the 12C group had 49.0% and 19.2% higher mean weight than groups 7C and 10C, respectively. Elevated early rearing temperatures were, however, found to cause precocious sexual maturation and reduce the long-term growth performance. At the end of EP2, the 7C group had 3.6% and 14.1% higher mean weight than 10C and 12C, respectively. Elevated early rearing temperatures had a much stronger effect on the maturity incidence of females, and while male-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was found in all groups, the magnitude of SSD was positively associated with temperature.