Physiological, developmental, and behavioral plasticity in response to thermal acclimation

Fan, Xiao L.; Lin, Zhi H.; Scheffers, Brett R.

Physiological, developmental, and behavioral plasticity in response to thermal acclimation

2021

Fan, Xiao L. | Lin, Zhi H. | Scheffers, Brett R.

Organisms with complex ecologies and life-cycle processes may shift physiologically (acclimation in tolerance), developmentally, and/or behaviorally (thermoregulation) in response to changes in climate. As such, climate change may trigger multiple, interacting phenotypic responses, which underscores the nuances of characterizing a species capacity to adapt and respond to climate change. In this study, we use a model frog species, Bufo gargarizans, to examine how three phenotypes, thermal tolerance limits (critical thermal minimum, CTₘᵢₙ and critical thermal maximum, CTₘₐₓ), ontogeny, and behavioral preferences in temperature (Tₚᵣₑf) respond to different levels of thermal exposure (i.e., acclimation ranging from 10 °C to 30 °C). Acclimation temperature had little effect on Tₚᵣₑf of tadpoles, yet behaviorally they showed strong signs of thermal selection towards an optimum. Both CTₘᵢₙ and CTₘₐₓ increased with acclimation temperature with an approximate 10% increase in tolerance limits per 1 °C increase in exposure. Development and body size both responded to acclimation temperature, both of which also influenced lower but not upper thermal limits. Our study highlights the idiosyncrasies of estimating climate vulnerability, where multiple phenotypes can respond to shifts in temperature—a complexity that is especially apparent in species with complex life-cycles.

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