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Paraskevopoulos AW, Sanders NJ, Resasco J. Temperature-driven homogenization of an ant community over 60 years in a montane ecosystem. Ecology 2024; 105:e4302. [PMID: 38594213 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Identifying the mechanisms underlying the changes in the distribution of species is critical to accurately predict how species have responded and will respond to climate change. Here, we take advantage of a late-1950s study on ant assemblages in a canyon near Boulder, Colorado, USA, to understand how and why species distributions have changed over a 60-year period. Community composition changed over 60 years with increasing compositional similarity among ant assemblages. Community composition differed significantly between the periods, with aspect and tree cover influencing composition. Species that foraged in broader temperature ranges became more widespread over the 60-year period. Our work highlights that shifts in community composition and biotic homogenization can occur even in undisturbed areas without strong habitat degradation. We also show the power of pairing historical and contemporary data and encourage more mechanistic studies to predict species changes under climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna W Paraskevopoulos
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Nathan J Sanders
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Julian Resasco
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
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2
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Hoenle PO, Plowman NS, Matos-Maraví P, de Bello F, Bishop TR, Libra M, Idigel C, Rimandai M, Klimes P. Forest disturbance increases functional diversity but decreases phylogenetic diversity of an arboreal tropical ant community. J Anim Ecol 2024; 93:501-516. [PMID: 38409804 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Tropical rainforest trees host a diverse arthropod fauna that can be characterised by their functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD). Human disturbance degrades tropical forests, often coinciding with species invasion and altered assembly that leads to a decrease in FD and PD. Tree canopies are thought to be particularly vulnerable, but rarely investigated. Here, we studied the effects of forest disturbance on an ecologically important invertebrate group, the ants, in a lowland rainforest in New Guinea. We compared an early successional disturbed plot (secondary forest) to an old-growth plot (primary forest) by exhaustively sampling their ant communities in a total of 852 trees. We expected that for each tree community (1) disturbance would decrease FD and PD in tree-dwelling ants, mediated through species invasion. (2) Disturbance would decrease ant trait variation due to a more homogeneous environment. (3) The main drivers behind these changes would be different contributions of true tree-nesting species and visiting species. We calculated FD and PD based on a species-level phylogeny and 10 ecomorphological traits. Furthermore, we assessed by data exclusion the influence of species, which were not nesting in individual trees (visitors) or only nesting species (nesters), and of non-native species on FD and PD. Primary forests had higher ant species richness and PD than secondary forest. However, we consistently found increased FD in secondary forest. This pattern was robust even if we decoupled functional and phylogenetic signals, or if non-native ant species were excluded from the data. Visitors did not contribute strongly to FD, but they increased PD and their community weighted trait means often varied from nesters. Moreover, all community-weighted trait means changed after forest disturbance. Our finding of contradictory FD and PD patterns highlights the importance of integrative measures of diversity. Our results indicate that the tree community trait diversity is not negatively affected, but possibly even enhanced by disturbance. Therefore, the functional diversity of arboreal ants is relatively robust when compared between old-growth and young trees. However, further study with higher plot-replication is necessary to solidify and generalise our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp O Hoenle
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Nichola S Plowman
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Pável Matos-Maraví
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Francesco de Bello
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CSIC-UV-GV), Valencia, Spain
| | - Tom R Bishop
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Martin Libra
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Cliffson Idigel
- New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Maling Rimandai
- New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Petr Klimes
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
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3
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Piñanez-Espejo YMG, Munévar A, Schilman PE, Zurita GA. It is hot and cold here: the role of thermotolerance in the ability of spiders to colonize tree plantations in the southern Atlantic Forest. Oecologia 2024; 204:789-804. [PMID: 38561554 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05529-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Worldwide, with the decline of natural habitats, species with reduced niche breadth (specialists) are at greater risk of extinction as they cannot colonise or persist in disturbed habitat types. However, the role of thermal tolerance as a critical trait in understanding changes in species diversity in disturbed habitats, e.g., due to forest replacement by tree plantations, is still understudied. To examine the role of thermal tolerance on the responses of specialist and generalist species to habitat disturbances, we measured and compared local temperature throughout the year and thermotolerance traits [upper (CTmax) and lower (CTmin) thermal limits] of the most abundant species of spiders from different guilds inhabiting pine tree plantations and native Atlantic Forests in South America. Following the thermal adaptation hypothesis, we predicted that generalist species would show a wider thermal tolerance range (i.e., lower CTmin and higher CTmax) than forest specialist species. As expected, generalist species showed significantly higher CTmax and lower CTmin values than specialist species with wider thermal tolerance ranges than forest specialist species. These differences are more marked in orb weavers than in aerial hunter spiders. Our study supports the specialisation disturbance and thermal hypotheses. It highlights that habitat-specialist species are more vulnerable to environmental changes associated with vegetation structure and microclimatic conditions. Moreover, thermal tolerance is a key response trait to explain the Atlantic Forest spider's ability (or inability) to colonise and persist in human-productive land uses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yolanda M G Piñanez-Espejo
- IBS-Instituto de Biología Subtropical (UNaM-CONICET), Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina.
- Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina.
| | - Ana Munévar
- IBS-Instituto de Biología Subtropical (UNaM-CONICET), Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina
| | - Pablo E Schilman
- Laboratorio de Ecofisiología de Insectos, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- CONICET-Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada (IBBEA), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Gustavo Andrés Zurita
- IBS-Instituto de Biología Subtropical (UNaM-CONICET), Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina.
- Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina.
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4
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Gunderson AR. Disentangling physiological and physical explanations for body size-dependent thermal tolerance. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb245645. [PMID: 38426549 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
The effects of climate change are often body size dependent. One contributing factor could be size-dependent thermal tolerance (SDTT), the propensity for heat and cold tolerance to vary with body size among species and among individuals within species. SDTT is hypothesized to be caused by size differences in the temperature dependence of underlying physiological processes that operate at the cellular and organ/system level (physiological SDTT). However, temperature-dependent physiology need not change with body size for SDTT to be observed. SDTT can also arise because of physical differences that affect the relative body temperature dynamics of large and small organisms (physical SDTT). In this Commentary, I outline how physical SDTT occurs, its mechanistic differences from physiological SDTT, and how physical and physiological SDTT make different predictions about organismal responses to thermal variation. I then describe how physical SDTT can influence the outcome of thermal tolerance experiments, present an experimental framework for disentangling physical and physiological SDTT, and provide examples of tests for physiological SDTT that control for physical effects using data from Anolis lizards. Finally, I discuss how physical SDTT can affect organisms in natural environments and influence their vulnerability to anthropogenic warming. Differentiating between physiological and physical SDTT is important because it has implications for how we design and interpret thermal tolerance experiments and our fundamental understanding of thermal ecology and thermal adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex R Gunderson
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, 6823 St Charles Avenue, Lindy Boggs Building Room 400, New Orleans, LA 70118-5698, USA
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5
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Rivera-Rincón N, Altindag UH, Amin R, Graze RM, Appel AG, Stevison LS. "A comparison of thermal stress response between Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila pseudoobscura reveals differences between species and sexes". J Insect Physiol 2024; 153:104616. [PMID: 38278288 PMCID: PMC11048572 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2024.104616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
The environment is changing faster than anticipated due to climate change, making species more vulnerable to its impacts. The level of vulnerability of species is influenced by factors such as the degree and duration of exposure, as well as the physiological sensitivity of organisms to changes in their environments, which has been shown to vary among species, populations, and individuals. Here, we compared physiological changes in fecundity, critical thermalmaximum (CTmax), respiratory quotient (RQ), and DNA damage in ovaries in response to temperature stress in two species of fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster (25 vs. 29.5 °C) and Drosophila pseudoobscura (20.5 vs. 25 °C). The fecundity of D. melanogaster was more affected by high temperatures when exposed during egg through adult development, while D. pseudoobscura was most significantly affected when exposed to high temperatures exclusively during egg through pupal development. Additionally, D. melanogaster males exhibited a decrease of CTmax under high temperatures, while females showed an increase of CTmax when exposed to high temperatures during egg through adult development. while D. pseudoobscura females and males showed an increased CTmax only when reared at high temperatures during egg through pupae development. Moreover, both species showed an acceleration in oogenesis and an increase in apoptosis due to heat stress. These changes can likely be attributed to key differences in the geographic range, thermal range, development time, and other different factors between these two systems. Through this comparison of variation in physiology and developmental response to thermal stress, we found important differences between species and sexes that suggest future work needs to account for these factors separately in understanding the effects of constant increased temperatures.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Rivera-Rincón
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA
| | - U H Altindag
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA
| | - R Amin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA
| | - R M Graze
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA
| | - A G Appel
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA
| | - L S Stevison
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL USA.
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Exélis MP, Ramli R, Abdul Latif SA, Idris AH, Clemente-Orta G, Kermorvant C. Elucidating the daily foraging activity pattern of Oecophylla smaragdina to minimize bite nuisances in Asia large agro-system plantations. Heliyon 2024; 10:e26105. [PMID: 38434038 PMCID: PMC10906178 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Oecophylla smaragdina F., the Asian weaver ant, is one of the oil palm plantation's (Elaeis guineensis) potential predators, for the invasive bagworm species Metisa plana Walker, but this ant is a nuisance species that irritates plantation workers with their sharp bites. Here we assess the foraging activities (FA) of O. smaragdina's major workers, identify its inactive times and the existence of supervision, a novelty for social insects. Between 2018 and 2022, the pattern of trunk foraging activity was used as a mitigation measure. The relationship between trunk FA and air temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH), air pressure (AP), and rainfall interception (RI) was also investigated. Our results showed that, O. smaragdina is a strictly diurnal ant species, has little to no crepuscular activity, and stopped foraging during darkness. Moreover, veteran bigger workers systematically acted as supervisors by monitoring trails, intercepting, and bringing back to nests smaller individuals during heat peaks. In relation to population size relative abundance, all colonies displayed greater intensity during the warmest daily periods with higher mean forager density among the bigger colony, regardless of the dry-rainy intervals corresponded to minimal activity from late scotophase to early photophase and showed a bimodal pattern. Thus, forager activity peaked between 1100-1530 h and 1745-1845 h, and an average two-fold daily sudden decrease in intensity between 1620 and 1650 h as a partial cut-off period (first report). Furthermore, foraging activity, AT, AP showed a significant positive correlation while RH was negative. Finally, we found that from the base palm trunks, defensive territorial layers extended to 5 m on average with different spatial configurations indicating greater foraging density within the first 2 m. Our study shows O. smaragdina daily low activity periods, before 1000 h, being the most suitable to avoid forager attacks to facilitate pruning and harvesting tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moïse Pierre Exélis
- Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Direction de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, Hôtel de la Collectivité Territoriale de la Martinique (CTM), Rue Gaston Defferre - Cluny - CS 30137, 97201, Fort-de-France, Martinique
| | - Rosli Ramli
- Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Samshul Amry Abdul Latif
- Research & Innovation - Kulliyyah of Languages and Management, International Islamic University Malaysia, KM 1, Jalan Panchor, 84600, Pagoh, Muar, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Azarae Hj Idris
- Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Gemma Clemente-Orta
- Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ICA-CSIC), C/ Serrano 115 dpdo., 28006, Madrid, Spain
- Departament de Producció Vegetal i Ciència Forestal, AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain
| | - Claire Kermorvant
- Applied Mathematics Consultancy for Environmental Data Analysis - StatEnCo, Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, Pays Basque, France
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Pollock HS, Rutt CL, Cooper WJ, Brawn JD, Cheviron ZA, Luther DA. Equivocal support for the climate variability hypothesis within a Neotropical bird assemblage. Ecology 2024; 105:e4206. [PMID: 37950619 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023]
Abstract
The climate variability hypothesis posits that an organism's exposure to temperature variability determines the breadth of its thermal tolerance and has become an important framework for understanding variation in species' susceptibilities to climate change. For example, ectotherms from more thermally stable environments tend to have narrower thermal tolerances and greater sensitivity to projected climate warming. Among endotherms, however, the relationship between climate variability and thermal physiology is less clear, particularly with regard to microclimate variation-small-scale differences within or between habitats. To address this gap, we explored associations between two sources of temperature variation (habitat type and vertical forest stratum) and (1) thermal physiological traits and (2) temperature sensitivity metrics within a diverse assemblage of Neotropical birds (n = 89 species). We used long-term temperature data to establish that daily temperature regimes in open habitats and forest canopy were both hotter and more variable than those in the forest interior and forest understory, respectively. Despite these differences in temperature regime, however, we found little evidence that species' thermal physiological traits or temperature sensitivity varied in association with either habitat type or vertical stratum. Our findings provide two novel and important insights. First, and in contrast to the supporting empirical evidence from ectotherms, the thermal physiology of birds at our study site appears to be largely decoupled from local temperature variation, providing equivocal support for the climate variability hypothesis in endotherms. Second, we found no evidence that the thermal physiology of understory forest birds differed from that of canopy or open-habitat species-an oft-invoked, yet previously untested, mechanism for why these species are so vulnerable to environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry S Pollock
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Cameron L Rutt
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
- American Bird Conservancy, The Plains, Virginia, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey D Brawn
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Zachary A Cheviron
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - David A Luther
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
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Pallarés S, Garoffolo D, Rodríguez B, Sánchez-Fernández D. Role of climatic variability in shaping intraspecific variation of thermal tolerance in Mediterranean water beetles. Insect Sci 2024; 31:285-298. [PMID: 37370260 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
The climatic variability hypothesis (CVH) predicts that organisms in more thermally variable environments have wider thermal breadths and higher thermal plasticity than those from more stable environments. However, due to evolutionary trade-offs, taxa with greater absolute thermal limits may have little plasticity of such limits (trade-off hypothesis). The CVH assumes that climatic variability is the ultimate driver of thermal tolerance variation across latitudinal and altitudinal gradients, but average temperature also varies along such gradients. We explored intraspecific variation of thermal tolerance in three typical Mediterranean saline water beetles (families Hydrophilidae and Dytiscidae). For each species, we compared two populations where the species coexist, with similar annual mean temperature but contrasting thermal variability (continental vs. coastal population). We estimated thermal limits of adults from each population, previously acclimated at 17, 20, or 25 °C. We found species-specific patterns but overall, our results agree with the CVH regarding thermal ranges, which were wider in the continental (more variable) population. In the two hydrophilid species, this came at the cost of losing plasticity of the upper thermal limit in this population, supporting the trade-off hypothesis, but not in the dytiscid one. Our results support the role of local adaptation to thermal variability and trade-offs between basal tolerance and physiological plasticity in shaping thermal tolerance in aquatic ectotherms, but also suggest that intraspecific variation of thermal tolerance does not fit a general pattern among aquatic insects. Overlooking such intraspecific variation could lead to inaccurate predictions of the vulnerability of aquatic insects to global warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Pallarés
- Department of Zoology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - David Garoffolo
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Campus Espinardo, Murcia, Spain
| | - Belén Rodríguez
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Campus Espinardo, Murcia, Spain
| | - David Sánchez-Fernández
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia, Campus Espinardo, Murcia, Spain
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Mubayiwa M, Machekano H, Chidawanyika F, Mvumi BM, Segaiso B, Nyamukondiwa C. Sub-optimal host plants have developmental and thermal fitness costs to the invasive fall armyworm. Front Insect Sci 2023; 3:1204278. [PMID: 38469519 PMCID: PMC10926449 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2023.1204278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is a global invasive pest of cereals. Although this pest uses maize and sorghum as its main hosts, it is associated with a wide range of host plants due to its polyphagous nature. Despite the FAW's polyphagy being widely reported in literature, few studies have investigated the effects of the non-preferred conditions or forms (e.g., drought-stressed forms) of this pest's hosts on its physiological and ecological fitness. Thus, the interactive effects of biotic and abiotic stresses on FAW fitness costs or benefits have not been specifically investigated. We therefore assessed the effects of host plant quality on the developmental rates and thermal tolerance of the FAW. Specifically, we reared FAW neonates on three hosts (maize, cowpeas, and pearl millet) under two treatments per host plant [unstressed (well watered) and stressed (water deprived)] until the adult stage. Larval growth rates and pupal weights were determined. Thermal tolerance traits viz critical thermal maxima (CTmax), critical thermal minima (CTmin), heat knockdown time (HKDT), chill-coma recovery time (CCRT), and supercooling points (SCPs) were measured for the emerging adults from each treatment. The results showed that suboptimal diets significantly prolonged the developmental time of FAW larvae and reduced their growth rates and ultimate body weights, but did not impair their full development. Suboptimal diets (comprising non-cereal plants and drought-stressed cereal plants) increased the number of larval instars to eight compared to six for optimal natural diets (unstressed maize and pearl millet). Apart from direct effects, in all cases, suboptimal diets significantly reduced the heat tolerance of FAWs, but their effect on cold tolerance was recorded only in select cases (e.g., SCP). These results suggest host plant effects on the physical and thermal fitness of FAW, indicating a considerable degree of resilience against multiple stressors. This pest's resilience can present major drawbacks to its cultural management using suboptimal hosts (in crop rotations or intercrops) through its ability to survive on most host plants despite their water stress condition and gains in thermal fitness. The fate of FAW population persistence under multivariate environmental stresses is therefore not entirely subject to prior environmental host plant history or quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Macdonald Mubayiwa
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye, Botswana
| | - Honest Machekano
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Frank Chidawanyika
- Plant Health Department, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - Brighton M. Mvumi
- Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Environment and Food Systems, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Bame Segaiso
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye, Botswana
| | - Casper Nyamukondiwa
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye, Botswana
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa
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Abstract
Ambient temperature (Ta) is a critical abiotic factor for insects that cannot maintain a constant body temperature (Tb). Interestingly, Ta varies during the day, between seasons and habitats; insects must constantly cope with these variations to avoid reaching the deleterious effects of thermal stress. To minimize these risks, insects have evolved a set of physiological and behavioral thermoregulatory processes as well as molecular responses that allow them to survive and perform under various thermal conditions. These strategies range from actively seeking an adequate environment, to cooling down through the evaporation of body fluids and synthesizing heat shock proteins to prevent damage at the cellular level after heat exposure. In contrast, endothermy may allow an insect to fight parasitic infections, fly within a large range of Ta and facilitate nest defense. Since May (1979), Casey (1988) and Heinrich (1993) reviewed the literature on insect thermoregulation, hundreds of scientific articles have been published on the subject and new insights in several insect groups have emerged. In particular, technical advancements have provided a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying thermoregulatory processes. This present Review aims to provide an overview of these findings with a focus on various insect groups, including blood-feeding arthropods, as well as to explore the impact of thermoregulation and heat exposure on insect immunity and pathogen development. Finally, it provides insights into current knowledge gaps in the field and discusses insect thermoregulation in the context of climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloé Lahondère
- Department of Biochemistry, The Fralin Life Science Institute, The Global Change Center, Department of Entomology, Center of Emerging, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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11
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Araujo NDS, Perez R, Willot Q, Defrance M, Aron S. Facing lethal temperatures: Heat-shock response in desert and temperate ants. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10438. [PMID: 37720060 PMCID: PMC10500329 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Global climate changes may cause profound effects on species adaptation, particularly in ectotherms for whom even moderate warmer temperatures can lead to disproportionate heat failure. Still, several organisms evolved to endure high desert temperatures. Here, we describe the thermal tolerance survival and the transcriptomic heat stress response of three genera of desert (Cataglyphis, Melophorus, and Ocymyrmex) and two of temperate ants (Formica and Myrmica) and explore convergent and specific adaptations. We found heat stress led to either a reactive or a constitutive response in desert ants: Cataglyphis holgerseni and Melophorus bagoti differentially regulated very few transcripts in response to heat (0.12% and 0.14%, respectively), while Cataglyphis bombycina and Ocymyrmex robustior responded with greater expression alterations (respectively affecting 0.6% and 1.53% of their transcriptomes). These two responsive mechanisms-reactive and constitutive-were related to individual thermal tolerance survival and convergently evolved in distinct desert ant genera. Moreover, in comparison with desert species, the two temperate ants differentially expressed thousands of transcripts more in response to heat stress (affecting 8% and 12.71% of F. fusca and Myr. sabuleti transcriptomes). In summary, we show that heat adaptation in thermophilic ants involved changes in the expression response. Overall, desert ants show reduced transcriptional alterations even when under high thermal stress, and their expression response may be either constitutive or reactive to temperature increase.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rémy Perez
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & EcologyUniversité Libre de BruxellesBrusselsBelgium
| | - Quentin Willot
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & EcologyUniversité Libre de BruxellesBrusselsBelgium
- Zoophysiology, Department of BiologyAarhus UniversityAarhus‐CDenmark
| | - Matthieu Defrance
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in BrusselsUniversité Libre de BruxellesBrusselsBelgium
| | - Serge Aron
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & EcologyUniversité Libre de BruxellesBrusselsBelgium
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12
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Corley RB, Dawson W, Bishop TR. A simple method to account for thermal boundary layers during the estimation of CTmax in small ectotherms. J Therm Biol 2023; 116:103673. [PMID: 37527565 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
As temperatures rise, understanding how ectotherms will become impacted by thermal stress is of critical importance. In this context, many researchers quantify critical temperatures - these are the upper (CTmax) and lower (CTmin) thermal limits at which organisms can no longer function. Most studies estimate CTs using bath-based methods where organisms are submerged within a set thermal environment. Plate-based methods (i.e. hot plates), however, offer huge opportunity for automation and are readily available in many lab settings. Plates, however, generate a unidirectional thermal boundary layer above their surface which means that the temperatures experienced by organisms of different sizes is different. This boundary layer effect can bias estimates of critical temperatures. Here, we test the hypothesis that biases in critical temperature estimation on hot plates are driven by organism height. We also quantify the composition of the boundary layer in order to correct for these biases. We assayed four differently sized species of UK ants for their CTmax in dry baths (with no boundary layer) and on hot plates (with a boundary layer). We found that hot plates overestimated the CTmax values of the different ants, and that this overestimate was larger for taller species. By statistically modelling the thickness of the thermal boundary layer, and combining with estimates of species height, we were able to correct this overestimation and eliminate methodological differences. Our study provides two main findings. First, we provide evidence that organism height is positively related to the bias present in plate-based estimates of CTmax. Second, we show that a relatively simple statistical model can correct for this bias. By using simple corrections for boundary layer effects, as we have done here, researchers could open up a new possibility space in the design and implementation of thermal tolerance assays using plates rather than restrictive dry or water baths.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Will Dawson
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Tom R Bishop
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
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13
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Luo B, Huang M, Wang W, Niu J, Shrestha M, Zeng H, Ma L, Degen AA, Liao J, Zhang T, Bai Y, Zhao J, Fraser LH, Shang Z. Ant nests increase litter decomposition to mitigate the negative effect of warming in an alpine grassland ecosystem. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230613. [PMID: 37369352 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Warming can decrease feeding activity of soil organisms and affect biogeochemical cycles. The ant Formica manchu is active on the nest surface and prefers a hot, dry environment; therefore, warming may provide a favourable environment for its activities. We hypothesized that F. manchu benefit from warming and mitigate the negative effects of warming on litter decomposition. We examined the effects of ant nests (nest absence versus nest presence) and warming (+1.3 and +2.3°C) on litter decomposition, soil properties and the plant community in alpine grassland. Decomposition stations with two mesh sizes were used to differentiate effects of microorganisms (0.05 mm) and macroinvertebrates (1 cm) on decomposition. Ant nests increased litter decomposition with and without macroinvertebrates accessing the decomposition station when compared to plots without ant nests. Only litter decomposition in ant nests with macroinvertebrates having access to the decomposition station was not affected negatively by warming. Plots with ant nests had greater soil carbon, nutrient contents and plant growth than plots without ant nests, regardless of warming. Our results suggest that ant nests maintain ecosystem processes and functions under warming. Consequently, a management strategy in alpine grasslands should include the protection of these ants and ant nests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binyu Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Mei Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenyin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiahuan Niu
- Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou 215123, People's Republic of China
| | - Mani Shrestha
- Department of Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Haijun Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Lin Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - A Allan Degen
- Desert Animal Adaptations and Husbandry, Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Beer Sheva 8410500, Israel
| | - Jingkang Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, and College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, People's Republic of China
| | - Tao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanfu Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingxue Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Lauchlan H Fraser
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada V2C 0C8
| | - Zhanhuan Shang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People's Republic of China
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14
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Leong CM, Hui TY, Guénard B. The role of body mass in limiting post heat-coma recovery ability in terrestrial ectotherms. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10218. [PMID: 37361898 PMCID: PMC10288262 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Under global warming, animal species show shrinking body size responses, cascading deep changes in community structure and ecosystem functions. Although the exact physiological mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain unsolved, smaller individuals may benefit from warming climate more than larger ones. Heat-coma, a physiological state with severe consequences on locomotion ability, is often considered as an "ecological death" scenario under which individuals are unable to escape and exposed to predation, further heat injury, and other hazards. Species are expected to increasingly encounter heat-coma temperature thresholds under warming climate, and body size may be an important trait for thermoregulation in particular for ectotherms. The relationship between heat-coma and shrinking body size remains, however, unclear. Yet, recovery after short-term heat-coma is possible, but little is known about its importance in thermal adaptation and how organismal size correlates with post heat-coma recovery. Here, using ants as a model system, we firstly examined the fate of heat-comatose individuals under field conditions to quantify the ecological benefits of post heat-coma recovery. Then, we quantified ants' recovery ability after heat-coma using a dynamic thermal assay in the laboratory and asked if thermal resilience varies between species with different body mass. Our results confirm that heat-coma represents an inherent ecological death where individuals failed to recover from coma suffer strong predation pressure. Additionally, following phylogenetic signals inclusion, organisms with small mass were more likely to recover, supporting the temperature-size rule in thermal adaptation and recent studies showing a decrease in body size composition of ectotherm community under warmer climatic conditions. Body size as a fundamental trait in ecology thus affects ectotherm survival under thermal stress, which may drive species body size adaptations and community composition under future warming scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi Man Leong
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
- Present address:
Environmental Science Programme, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and TechnologyBeijing Normal University‐Hong Kong Baptist University United International CollegeZhuhaiChina
| | - Tin Yan Hui
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
- The Swire Institute of Marine ScienceThe University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
- Present address:
Science UnitLingnan UniversityHong Kong SARChina
| | - Benoit Guénard
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
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15
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Li YJ, Chen SY, Jørgensen LB, Overgaard J, Renault D, Colinet H, Ma CS. Interspecific differences in thermal tolerance landscape explain aphid community abundance under climate change. J Therm Biol 2023; 114:103583. [PMID: 37270894 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 03/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
A single critical thermal limit is often used to explain and infer the impact of climate change on geographic range and population abundance. However, it has limited application in describing the temporal dynamic and cumulative impacts of extreme temperatures. Here, we used a thermal tolerance landscape approach to address the impacts of extreme thermal events on the survival of co-existing aphid species (Metopolophium dirhodum, Sitobion avenae and Rhopalosiphum padi). Specifically, we built the thermal death time (TDT) models based on detailed survival datasets of three aphid species with three ages across a broad range of stressful high (34-40 °C) and low (-3∼-11 °C) temperatures to compare the interspecific and developmental stage variations in thermal tolerance. Using these TDT parameters, we performed a thermal risk assessment by calculating the potential daily thermal injury accumulation associated with the regional temperature variations in three wheat-growing sites along a latitude gradient. Results showed that M. dirhodum was the most vulnerable to heat but more tolerant to low temperatures than R. padi and S. avenae. R. padi survived better at high temperatures than Sitobion avenae and M. dirhodum but was sensitive to cold. R. padi was estimated to accumulate higher cold injury than the other two species during winter, while M. dirhodum accrued more heat injury during summer. The warmer site had higher risks of heat injury and the cooler site had higher risks of cold injury along a latitude gradient. These results support recent field observations that the proportion of R. padi increases with the increased frequency of heat waves. We also found that young nymphs generally had a lower thermal tolerance than old nymphs or adults. Our results provide a useful dataset and method for modelling and predicting the consequence of climate change on the population dynamics and community structure of small insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan-Jie Li
- School of Life Science, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, China; Climate Change Biology Research Group, State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 2, Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China; UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], Université Rennes 1, avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes cedex, France
| | - Si-Yang Chen
- Climate Change Biology Research Group, State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 2, Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China
| | | | - Johannes Overgaard
- Zoophysiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - David Renault
- UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], Université Rennes 1, avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes cedex, France
| | - Hervé Colinet
- UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], Université Rennes 1, avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042, Rennes cedex, France
| | - Chun-Sen Ma
- School of Life Science, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, China; Climate Change Biology Research Group, State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 2, Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China.
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16
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Fernandes JF, Calado R, Jerónimo D, Madeira D. Thermal tolerance limits and physiological traits as indicators of Hediste diversicolor's acclimation capacity to global and local change drivers. J Therm Biol 2023; 114:103577. [PMID: 37263039 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Global projections predict significant increases in ocean temperature and changes in ocean chemistry, including salinity variations by 2100. This has led to a substantial interest in the study of thermal ecophysiology, as temperature is a major factor shaping marine ectotherm communities. However, responses to temperature may be influenced by other factors such as salinity, highlighting the relevance of multiple stressor studies. In the present work, we experimentally evaluated the thermal tolerance of the marine ragworm Hediste diversicolor under predicted global change scenarios. Organisms were subjected to an experimental trial under control (24 °C), and two temperature treatment scenarios (ocean warming +3 °C - (27 °C) and heat wave +6 °C - (30 °C)), combined with salinity variations (20 and 30) in a full factorial design for 29 days. Environmental data from the field were collected during 2019 and 2020. At day 30 post exposure, upper thermal limits (Critical Thermal Maximum - CTMax), thermal safety margins (TSM) and acclimation capacity were measured. Higher acclimation temperatures led to higher thermal tolerance limits, confirming that H. diversicolor features some physiological plasticity, acclimation capacity and a positive thermal safety margin. This margin was greater considering in situ temperature data from 2019 than maximum temperatures for 2020 (CTMax > maximum habitat temperature-MHT). Moreover, smaller organisms displayed higher upper thermal limits suggesting that thermal tolerance is size dependent. Ragworms subjected to higher salinity also showed a higher CTMax than those acclimated to lower salinity. However, temperature and salinity showed an additive effect on CTMax, as no significant interaction was detected. We conclude that H. diversicolor can easily acclimate to increased water temperature, independently of salinity variations. Given the key role of ragworms in food webs in estuaries and coastal lagoons, substrate bioturbation and aquaculture, this information is relevant to support conservation actions, optimize culture protocols and identify thermal resistant strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana Filipa Fernandes
- ECOMARE - Laboratory for Innovation and Sustainability of Marine Biological Resources, CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Estrada do Porto de Pesca Costeira, 3830-565, Gafanha da Nazaré, Portugal.
| | - Ricardo Calado
- ECOMARE - Laboratory for Innovation and Sustainability of Marine Biological Resources, CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Estrada do Porto de Pesca Costeira, 3830-565, Gafanha da Nazaré, Portugal
| | - Daniel Jerónimo
- ECOMARE - Laboratory for Innovation and Sustainability of Marine Biological Resources, CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Estrada do Porto de Pesca Costeira, 3830-565, Gafanha da Nazaré, Portugal
| | - Diana Madeira
- ECOMARE - Laboratory for Innovation and Sustainability of Marine Biological Resources, CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Estrada do Porto de Pesca Costeira, 3830-565, Gafanha da Nazaré, Portugal; UCIBIO, Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
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17
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Youngsteadt E, Prado SG, Keleher KJ, Kirchner M. Can behaviour and physiology mitigate effects of warming on ectotherms? A test in urban ants. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:568-579. [PMID: 36642830 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Global climate change is expected to have pervasive effects on the diversity and distribution of species, particularly ectotherms whose body temperatures depend on environmental temperatures. However, these impacts remain difficult to predict, in part because ectotherms may adapt or acclimate to novel conditions or may use behavioural thermoregulation to reduce their exposure to stressful microclimates. Here we examine the potential for physiological and behavioural changes to mitigate effects of environmental warming on five species of ants in a temperate forest habitat subject to urban warming. We worked in eight urban and eight non-urban forest sites in North Carolina, USA; sites experienced a 1.1°C range of mean summer air temperatures. At each site, we documented species-specific microclimates (ant operative temperatures, Te ) and ant activity on a transect of 14 bait stations at three times of day. In the laboratory, we measured upper thermal tolerance (CTmax ) and thermal preference (Tpref ) for each focal species. We then asked whether thermal traits shifted at hotter sites, and whether ants avoided non-preferred microclimates in the field. CTmax and Tpref did not increase at warmer sites, indicating that these populations did not adapt or acclimate to urban warming. Consistent with behavioural thermoregulation, four of the five species were less likely to occupy baits where Te departed from Tpref . Apparent thermoregulation resulted from fixed diel activity patterns that helped ants avoid the most inappropriate temperatures but did not compensate for daily or spatial temperature variation: Hotter sites had hotter ants. This study uses a novel approach to detect behavioural thermoregulation and sublethal warming in foraging insects. The results suggest that adaptation and behaviour may not protect common temperate forest ants from a warming climate, and highlight the need to evaluate effects of chronic, sublethal warming on small ectotherms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elsa Youngsteadt
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Sara Guiti Prado
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kirsten Joanna Keleher
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.,Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Michelle Kirchner
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.,Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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18
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Xing S, Leahy L, Ashton LA, Kitching RL, Bonebrake TC, Scheffers BR. Ecological patterns and processes in the vertical dimension of terrestrial ecosystems. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:538-551. [PMID: 36622247 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Climatic gradients such as latitude and elevation are considered primary drivers of global biogeography. Yet, alongside these macro-gradients, the vertical space and structure generated by terrestrial plants form comparable climatic gradients but at a fraction of the distance. These vertical gradients provide a spectrum of ecological space for species to occur and coexist, increasing biodiversity. Furthermore, vertical gradients can serve as pathways for evolutionary adaptation of species traits, leading to a range of ecological specialisations. In this review, we explore the ecological evidence supporting the proposition that the vertical gradient serves as an engine driving the ecology and evolution of species and shaping larger biogeographical patterns in space and time akin to elevation and latitude. Focusing on vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, we synthesised how ecological patterns within the vertical dimension shape species composition, distribution and biotic interactions. We identify three key ecological mechanisms associated with species traits that facilitate persistence within the vertical environment and draw on empirical examples from the literature to explore these processes. Looking forward, we propose that the vertical dimension provides an excellent study template to explore timely ecological and evolutionary questions. We encourage future research to also consider how the vertical dimension will influence the resilience and response of animal taxa to global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Xing
- School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lily Leahy
- Department of Environment and Genetics, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Louise A Ashton
- Ecology and Biodiversity Area, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Roger L Kitching
- School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
| | - Timothy C Bonebrake
- Ecology and Biodiversity Area, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Brett R Scheffers
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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19
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Hoenle PO, Staab M, Donoso DA, Argoti A, Blüthgen N. Stratification and recovery time jointly shape ant functional reassembly in a neotropical forest. J Anim Ecol 2023. [PMID: 36748273 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Microhabitat differentiation of species communities such as vertical stratification in tropical forests contributes to species coexistence and thus biodiversity. However, little is known about how the extent of stratification changes during forest recovery and influences community reassembly. Environmental filtering determines community reassembly in time (succession) and in space (stratification), hence functional and phylogenetic composition of species communities are highly dynamic. It is poorly understood if and how these two concurrent filters-forest recovery and stratification-interact. In a tropical forest chronosequence in Ecuador spanning 34 years of natural recovery, we investigated the recovery trajectory of ant communities in three overlapping strata (ground, leaf litter, lower tree trunk) by quantifying 13 traits, as well as the functional and phylogenetic diversity of the ants. We expected that functional and phylogenetic diversity would increase with recovery time and that each ant community within each stratum would show a distinct functional reassembly. We predicted that traits related to ant diet would show divergent trajectories reflecting an increase in niche differentiation with recovery time. On the other hand, traits related to the abiotic environment were predicted to show convergent trajectories due to a more similar microclimate across strata with increasing recovery age. Most of the functional traits and the phylogenetic diversity of the ants were clearly stratified, confirming previous findings. However, neither functional nor phylogenetic diversity increased with recovery time. Community-weighted trait means had complex relationships to recovery time and the majority were shaped by a statistical interaction between recovery time and stratum, confirming our expectations. However, most trait trajectories converged among strata with increasing recovery time regardless of whether they were related to ant diet or environmental conditions. We confirm the hypothesized interaction among environmental filters during the functional reassembly in tropical forests. Communities in individual strata respond differently to recovery, and possible filter mechanisms likely arise from both abiotic (e.g. microclimate) and biotic (e.g. diet) conditions. Since vertical stratification is prevalent across animal and plant taxa, our results highlight the importance of stratum-specific analysis in dynamic ecosystems and may generalize beyond ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp O Hoenle
- Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.,Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Staab
- Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - David A Donoso
- Departamento de Biología, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador.,Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Adriana Argoti
- Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Nico Blüthgen
- Ecological Networks, Department of Biology, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
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20
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Wenda C, Gaitán-Espitia JD, Solano-Iguaran JJ, Nakamura A, Majcher BM, Ashton LA. Heat tolerance variation reveals vulnerability of tropical herbivore-parasitoid interactions to climate change. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:278-290. [PMID: 36468222 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Assessing the heat tolerance (CTmax) of organisms is central to understand the impact of climate change on biodiversity. While both environment and evolutionary history affect CTmax, it remains unclear how these factors and their interplay influence ecological interactions, communities and ecosystems under climate change. We collected and reared caterpillars and parasitoids from canopy and ground layers in different seasons in a tropical rainforest. We tested the CTmax and Thermal Safety Margins (TSM) of these food webs with implications for how species interactions could shift under climate change. We identified strong influence of phylogeny in herbivore-parasitoid community heat tolerance. The TSM of all insects were narrower in the canopy and parasitoids had lower heat tolerance compared to their hosts. Our CTmax-based simulation showed higher herbivore-parasitoid food web instability under climate change than previously assumed, highlighting the vulnerability of parasitoids and related herbivore control in tropical rainforests, particularly in the forest canopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Wenda
- School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China.,State Key Laboratory of Biological Control, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Juan Diego Gaitán-Espitia
- SWIRE Institute of Marine Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jaiber J Solano-Iguaran
- Departamento de Salud Hidrobiológica, División de Investigación en Acuicultura, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Puerto Montt, Chile
| | - Akihiro Nakamura
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
| | - Bartosz M Majcher
- Ecology and Biodiversity Area, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Louise A Ashton
- Ecology and Biodiversity Area, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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21
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Almeida RPS, Teresa FB, Camarota F, Izzo TJ, Silva RR, Andrade-Silva J, de Arruda FV. The role of morphological traits in predicting the functional ecology of arboreal and ground ants in the Cerrado-Amazon transition. Oecologia 2023; 201:199-212. [PMID: 36520222 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05304-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
There is often a vertical stratification of the vegetation in tropical forests, where each forest stratum has a unique set of environmental conditions, including marked differences in habitat heterogeneity, physical complexity, and microclimate. Additionally, many tropical forests are highly seasonal, and we need to consider the temporal variation in environmental conditions when assessing the functional aspects of their organisms. Here, we tested the hypothesis that vertical stratification and seasonality shape tropical ants' functional ecology and that there are differences in the functional trait diversity and composition between arboreal and ground-dwelling ant communities. We collected ants in the arboreal and ground strata in the rainy and dry seasons in six different areas, measuring seven morphological traits to characterize their functional ecology and diversity. Irrespective of the season, we found a distinct functional composition between arboreal and ground-dwelling ants and a higher functional richness on the ground. However, ground ants were more functionally redundant than arboreal ants. The differences in functional richness and redundancy between ant inhabiting strata and season could also be observed in the community-weighted mean traits: arboreal and ground ant traits can be distinguished in Weber's length, mandible length, eye length, and eye position on the head capsule. The differences in these functional traits are mainly related to the ants' feeding habits and the complexity of their foraging substrates. Overall, by providing the first systematic comparison of continuous traits between arboreal and ground-dwelling ants, our study opens new investigation paths, indicating important axes of functional diversification of tropical ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rony P S Almeida
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Ecologia Funcional de Formigas (AntMor), Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Perimetral, 1901, Terra Firme, Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - Fabrício B Teresa
- Universidade Estadual de Goiás, Campus Central, Anápolis, GO, Brazil
| | - Flávio Camarota
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
| | - Thiago Junqueira Izzo
- Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil
| | - Rogério R Silva
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Ecologia Funcional de Formigas (AntMor), Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Perimetral, 1901, Terra Firme, Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - Joudellys Andrade-Silva
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Ecologia Funcional de Formigas (AntMor), Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Perimetral, 1901, Terra Firme, Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - Filipe Viegas de Arruda
- Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM), Asa Norte Comércio Local Norte 211 BL B Sala 201-Asa Norte, Brasília, DF, 70863-520, Brazil
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22
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Kaspari M, Weiser MD, Marshall KE, Siler CD, de Beurs K. Temperature-habitat interactions constrain seasonal activity in a continental array of pitfall traps. Ecology 2023; 104:e3855. [PMID: 36054605 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Activity density (AD), the rate at which animals collectively move through their environment, emerges as the product of a taxon's local abundance and its velocity. We analyze drivers of seasonal AD using 47 localities from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) both to better understand variation in ecosystem rates like pollination and seed dispersal as well as the constraints of using AD to monitor invertebrate populations. AD was measured as volume from biweekly pitfall trap arrays (ml trap-1 14 days-1 ). Pooled samples from 2017 to 2018 revealed AD extrema at most temperatures but with a strongly positive overall slope. However, habitat types varied widely in AD's seasonal temperature sensitivity, from negative in wetlands to positive in mixed forest, grassland, and shrub habitats. The temperature of maximum AD varied threefold across the 47 localities; it tracked the threefold geographic variation in maximum growing season temperature with a consistent gap of ca. 3°C across habitats, a novel macroecological result. AD holds potential as an effective proxy for investigating ecosystem rates driven by activity. However, our results suggest that its use for monitoring insect abundance is complicated by the many ways that both abundance and velocity are constrained by a locality's temperature and plant physiognomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kaspari
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Michael D Weiser
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Katie E Marshall
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Cameron D Siler
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.,Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Kirsten de Beurs
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
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23
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Lawhorn KA, Yanoviak SP. Variation in Larval Thermal Tolerance of Three Saproxylic Beetle Species. Environ Entomol 2022; 51:1218-1223. [PMID: 36346643 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvac091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Temperature is a key abiotic condition that limits the distributions of organisms, and forest insects are particularly sensitive to thermal extremes. Whereas winged adult insects generally are able to escape unfavorable temperatures, other less-vagile insects (e.g., larvae) must withstand local microclimatic conditions to survive. Here, we measured the thermal tolerance of the larvae of three saproxylic beetle species that are common inhabitants of coarse woody debris (CWD) in temperate forests of eastern North America: Lucanus elaphus Fabricius (Lucanidae), Dendroides canadensis Latreille (Pyrochroidae), and Odontotaenius disjunctus Illiger (Passalidae). We determined how their critical thermal maxima (CTmax) vary with body size (mass), and measured the thermal profiles of CWD representing the range of microhabitats occupied by these species. Average CTmax differed among the three species and increased with mass intraspecifically. However, mass was not a good predictor of thermal tolerance among species. Temperature ramp rate and time in captivity also influenced larval CTmax, but only for D. canadensis and L. elaphus respectively. Heating profiles within relatively dry CWD sometimes exceeded the CTmax of the beetle larvae, and deeper portions of CWD were generally cooler. Interspecific differences in CTmax were not fully explained by microhabitat association, but the results suggest that the distribution of some species within a forest can be affected by local thermal extremes. Understanding the responses of saproxylic beetle larvae to warming habitats will help predict shifts in community structure and ecosystem functioning in light of climate change and increasing habitat fragmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kane A Lawhorn
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, 139 Life Sciences Building, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
| | - Stephen P Yanoviak
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, 139 Life Sciences Building, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
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24
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Steidinger BS, Büntgen U, Stobbe U, Tegel W, Sproll L, Haeni M, Moser B, Bagi I, Bonet J, Buée M, Dauphin B, Martínez‐Peña F, Molinier V, Zweifel R, Egli S, Peter M. The fall of the summer truffle: Recurring hot, dry summers result in declining fruitbody production of Tuber aestivum in Central Europe. Glob Chang Biol 2022; 28:7376-7390. [PMID: 36200354 PMCID: PMC9828532 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Global warming is pushing populations outside their range of physiological tolerance. According to the environmental envelope framework, the most vulnerable populations occur near the climatic edge of their species' distributions. In contrast, populations from the climatic center of the species range should be relatively buffered against climate warming. We tested this latter prediction using a combination of linear mixed effects and machine learning algorithms on an extensive, citizen-scientist generated dataset on the fruitbody productivity of the Burgundy (aka summer) truffle (Tuber aestivum Vittad.), a keystone, ectomycorrhizal tree-symbiont occurring on a wide range of temperate climates. T. aestivum's fruitbody productivity was monitored at 3-week resolution over up to 8 continuous years at 20 sites distributed in the climatic center of its European distribution in southwest Germany and Switzerland. We found that T. aestivum fruitbody production is more sensitive to summer drought than would be expected from the breadth of its species' climatic niche. The monitored populations occurring nearly 5°C colder than the edge of their species' climatic distribution. However, interannual fruitbody productivity (truffle mass year-1 ) fell by a median loss of 22% for every 1°C increase in summer temperature over a site's 30-year mean. Among the most productive monitored populations, the temperature sensitivity was even higher, with single summer temperature anomalies of 3°C sufficient to stop fruitbody production altogether. Interannual truffle productivity was also related to the phenology of host trees, with ~22 g less truffle mass for each 1-day reduction in the length of the tree growing season. Increasing summer drought extremes are therefore likely to reduce fruiting among summer truffle populations throughout Central Europe. Our results suggest that European T. aestivum may be a mosaic of vulnerable populations, sensitive to climate-driven declines at lower thresholds than implied by its species distribution model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian S. Steidinger
- Department of EcologyUniversity of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Ulf Büntgen
- Global Change Research Centre (Czech Globe)BrnoCzech Republic
- Department of GeographyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- Department of Geography, Faculty of ScienceMasaryk UniversityBrnoCzech Republic
| | | | - Willy Tegel
- Forest GrowthAlbert‐Ludwigs UniversityFreiburgGermany
| | | | - Matthias Haeni
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Barbara Moser
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | | | | | - Marc Buée
- Laboratory of Excellence ARBRE, INRAE‐Grand Est, Interactions Arbres/MicroorganismesINRAE, UMR 1136 INRAE‐University of LorraineChampenouxFrance
| | - Benjamin Dauphin
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Fernando Martínez‐Peña
- Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon CITAZaragozaSpain
- European Mycological Institute EGTC‐EMISoriaSpain
| | - Virginie Molinier
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Roman Zweifel
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Simon Egli
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
| | - Martina Peter
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLBirmensdorfSwitzerland
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Richter R, Ballasus H, Engelmann RA, Zielhofer C, Sanaei A, Wirth C. Tree species matter for forest microclimate regulation during the drought year 2018: disentangling environmental drivers and biotic drivers. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17559. [PMID: 36266469 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22582-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Tree canopies are considered to effectively buffer climate extremes and to mitigate climate change effects. Droughts, which are predicted to become more frequent in the course of climate change, might alter the microclimatic cooling potential of trees. However, our understanding of how microclimate at the tree canopy level is modulated by environmental and tree characteristics and their interactions is still limited. Here, we investigated canopy temperature regulation for five mature co-occurring tree species for two contrasting hydrological situations during the severe drought in 2018. Even though we observed a significant drought-induced decline in canopy cover and transpiration across tree species, we found evidence that differences in the water use strategies of trees affected cooling mechanisms differently. Although a large share of the variations in the cooling potential of trees was explained by direct and indirect effects of meteorological factors, we identified a gradual shift in importance from latent heat flux to components defining the magnitude of sensible heat flux on the energy budget of tree as the drought gained severity. The decrease in latent heat fluxes, approximated by sap flow rates, furthermore resulted in a reduced cooling potential and an equalization of tree species canopy temperatures.
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26
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Roeder KA, Daniels JD. Thermal tolerance of western corn rootworm: Critical thermal limits, knock-down resistance, and chill coma recovery. J Therm Biol 2022; 109:103338. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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Baudier KM, Ostwald MM, Haney BR, Calixto JM, Cossio FJ, Fewell JH. Social Factors in Heat Survival: Multiqueen Desert Ant Colonies Have Higher and More Uniform Heat Tolerance. Physiol Biochem Zool 2022; 95:379-389. [PMID: 35914287 DOI: 10.1086/721251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractInvestigations of thermally adaptive behavioral phenotypes are critical for both understanding climate as a selective force and predicting global species distributions under climate change conditions. Cooperative nest founding is a common strategy in harsh environments for many species and can enhance growth and competitive advantage, but whether this social strategy has direct effects on thermal tolerance was previously unknown. We examined the effects of alternative social strategies on thermal tolerance in a facultatively polygynous (multiqueen) desert ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus, asking whether and how queen number affects worker thermal tolerances. We established and reared lab colonies with one to four queens, then quantified all colony member heat tolerances (maximum critical temperature [CTmax]). Workers from colonies with more queens had higher and less variant CTmax. Our findings resemble weak link patterns, in which colony group thermal performance is improved by reducing frequencies of the most temperature-vulnerable individuals. Using ambient temperatures from our collection site, we show that multiqueen colonies have thermal tolerance distributions that enable increased midday foraging in hot desert environments. Our results suggest advantages to polygyny under climate change scenarios and raise the question of whether improved thermal tolerance is a factor that has enabled the success of polygyne species in other climatically extreme environments.
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28
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Barbosa GG, Ferrando CPR, Mendonça MDS, Podgaiski LR. How do patch burnings affect ant communities and seed removal in a subtropical grassland? Perspect Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pecon.2022.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
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29
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Xing S, Hood ASC, Dial RJ, Fayle TM. Species turnover in ant assemblages is greater horizontally than vertically in the world's tallest tropical forest. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9158. [PMID: 35919394 PMCID: PMC9336171 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Abiotic and biotic factors structure species assembly in ecosystems both horizontally and vertically. However, the way community composition changes along comparable horizontal and vertical distances in complex three‐dimensional habitats, and the factors driving these patterns, remains poorly understood. By sampling ant assemblages at comparable vertical and horizontal spatial scales in a tropical rainforest, we tested hypotheses that predicted differences in vertical and horizontal turnover explained by different drivers in vertical and horizontal space. These drivers included environmental filtering, such as microclimate (temperature, humidity, and photosynthetic photon flux density) and microhabitat connectivity (leaf area), which are structured differently across vertical and horizontal space. We found that both ant abundance and richness decreased significantly with increasing vertical height. Although the dissimilarity between ant assemblages increased with vertical distance, indicating a clear distance‐decay pattern, the dissimilarity was higher horizontally where it appeared independent of distance. The pronounced horizontal and vertical structuring of ant assemblages across short distances is likely explained by a combination of microclimate and microhabitat connectivity. Our results demonstrate the importance of considering three‐dimensional spatial variation in local assemblages and reveal how highly diverse communities can be supported by complex habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang Xing
- School of Ecology Sun Yat‐Sen University Guangzhou P. R. China
- Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Amelia S. C. Hood
- Department of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
- Centre for Agri‐Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Roman J. Dial
- Institute of Culture and Environment Alaska Pacific University Anchorage Alaska USA
| | - Tom M. Fayle
- Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London London UK
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30
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Turriago JL, Tejedo M, Hoyos JM, Bernal MH. The effect of thermal microenvironment in upper thermal tolerance plasticity in tropical tadpoles. Implications for vulnerability to climate warming. J Exp Zool A Ecol Integr Physiol 2022; 337:746-759. [PMID: 35674344 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Current climate change is generating accelerated increase in extreme heat events and organismal plastic adjustments in upper thermal tolerances, (critical thermal maximum -CTmax ) are recognized as the quicker mitigating mechanisms. However, current research casts doubt on the actual mitigating role of thermal acclimation to face heat impacts, due to its low magnitude and weak environmental signal. Here, we examined these drawbacks by first estimating maximum extent of thermal acclimation by examining known sources of variation affecting CTmax expression, such as daily thermal fluctuation and heating rates. Second, we examined whether the magnitude and pattern of CTmax plasticity is dependent of the thermal environment by comparing the acclimation responses of six species of tropical amphibian tadpoles inhabiting thermally contrasting open and shade habitats and, finally, estimating their warming tolerances (WT = CTmax - maximum temperatures) as estimator of heating risk. We found that plastic CTmax responses are improved in tadpoles exposed to fluctuating daily regimens. Slow heating rates implying longer duration assays determined a contrasting pattern in CTmax plastic expression, depending on species environment. Shade habitat species suffer a decline in CTmax whereas open habitat tadpoles greatly increase it, suggesting an adaptive differential ability of hot exposed species to quick hardening adjustments. Open habitat tadpoles although overall acclimate more than shade habitat species, cannot capitalize this beneficial increase in CTmax, because the maximum ambient temperatures are very close to their critical limits, and this increase may not be large enough to reduce acute heat stress under the ongoing global warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge L Turriago
- Department of Biology, Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología & Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Tolima, Colombia
- Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Miguel Tejedo
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Julio M Hoyos
- Department of Biology, Grupo UNESIS, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Manuel H Bernal
- Department of Biology, Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología & Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Tolima, Colombia
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Basset Y, Hajibabaei M, Wright MTG, Castillo AM, Donoso DA, Segar ST, Souto-Vilarós D, Soliman DY, Roslin T, Smith MA, Lamarre GPA, De León LF, Decaëns T, Palacios-Vargas JG, Castaño-Meneses G, Scheffrahn RH, Rivera M, Perez F, Bobadilla R, Lopez Y, Ramirez Silva JA, Cruz MM, Galván AA, Barrios H. Comparison of traditional and DNA metabarcoding samples for monitoring tropical soil arthropods (Formicidae, Collembola and Isoptera). Sci Rep 2022; 12:10762. [PMID: 35750774 PMCID: PMC9232565 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14915-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The soil fauna of the tropics remains one of the least known components of the biosphere. Long-term monitoring of this fauna is hampered by the lack of taxonomic expertise and funding. These obstacles may potentially be lifted with DNA metabarcoding. To validate this approach, we studied the ants, springtails and termites of 100 paired soil samples from Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The fauna was extracted with Berlese-Tullgren funnels and then either sorted with traditional taxonomy and known, individual DNA barcodes ("traditional samples") or processed with metabarcoding ("metabarcoding samples"). We detected 49 ant, 37 springtail and 34 termite species with 3.46 million reads of the COI gene, at a mean sequence length of 233 bp. Traditional identification yielded 80, 111 and 15 species of ants, springtails and termites, respectively; 98%, 37% and 100% of these species had a Barcode Index Number (BIN) allowing for direct comparison with metabarcoding. Ants were best surveyed through traditional methods, termites were better detected by metabarcoding, and springtails were equally well detected by both techniques. Species richness was underestimated, and faunal composition was different in metabarcoding samples, mostly because 37% of ant species were not detected. The prevalence of species in metabarcoding samples increased with their abundance in traditional samples, and seasonal shifts in species prevalence and faunal composition were similar between traditional and metabarcoding samples. Probable false positive and negative species records were reasonably low (13-18% of common species). We conclude that metabarcoding of samples extracted with Berlese-Tullgren funnels appear suitable for the long-term monitoring of termites and springtails in tropical rainforests. For ants, metabarcoding schemes should be complemented by additional samples of alates from Malaise or light traps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yves Basset
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá, Panama.
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
- Maestría de Entomología, Universidad de Panamá, 080814, Panama City, Republic of Panama.
| | - Mehrdad Hajibabaei
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G2W1, Canada
| | - Michael T G Wright
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G2W1, Canada
| | - Anakena M Castillo
- Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT-AIP), P.O. Box 0843-01103, Panamá 5, Panama
- Department of Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, 522 510, India
| | - David A Donoso
- Departamento de Biología, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador
- Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, EC170103, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Simon T Segar
- Agriculture and Environment Department, Harper Adams University, Newport, TF10 8NB, Shropshire, UK
| | - Daniel Souto-Vilarós
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 128 44, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Dina Y Soliman
- Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G2W1, Canada
| | - Tomas Roslin
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - M Alex Smith
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G2W1, Canada
| | - Greg P A Lamarre
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá, Panama
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Luis F De León
- Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de Drogas, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT-AIP), P.O. Box 0843-01103, Panamá 5, Panama
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA, 02125, USA
| | - Thibaud Decaëns
- CEFE, University of Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, University Paul Valéry, Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
| | - José G Palacios-Vargas
- Laboratorio de Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gabriela Castaño-Meneses
- Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Juriquilla 76230, Querétaro, Mexico
| | - Rudolf H Scheffrahn
- Fort Lauderdale Research & Education Center, 3205 College Avenue, Davie, FL, 33314, USA
| | - Marleny Rivera
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá, Panama
| | - Filonila Perez
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá, Panama
| | - Ricardo Bobadilla
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá, Panama
| | - Yacksecari Lopez
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá, Panama
| | | | - Maira Montejo Cruz
- Laboratorio de Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Angela Arango Galván
- Laboratorio de Ecología y Sistemática de Microartrópodos, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Héctor Barrios
- Maestría de Entomología, Universidad de Panamá, 080814, Panama City, Republic of Panama
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Woods HA, Legault G, Kingsolver JG, Pincebourde S, Shah AA, Larkin BG. Climate‐driven thermal opportunities and risks for leaf miners in aspen canopies. ECOL MONOGR 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H. Arthur Woods
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Montana Missoula MT USA
| | - Geoffrey Legault
- Department of Biology University of North Carolina Chapel Hill NC USA
| | | | - Sylvain Pincebourde
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS ‐ Université de Tours, 37200 Tours France
| | - Alisha A. Shah
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Montana Missoula MT USA
- W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Department of Integrative Biology Michigan State University Hickory Corners MI USA
| | - Beau G. Larkin
- MPG Operations, LLC, 1001 South Higgins Ave, Suite 3A Missoula MT USA
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33
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Arnan X, Lázaro-gonzález A, Beltran N, Rodrigo A, Pol R. Thermal physiology, foraging pattern, and worker body size interact to influence coexistence in sympatric polymorphic harvester ants (Messor spp.). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022; 76. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03186-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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34
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Bota‐Sierra CA, García‐Robledo C, Escobar F, Novelo‐Gutiérrez R, Londoño GA. Environment, taxonomy and morphology constrain insect thermal physiology along tropical mountains. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cornelio A. Bota‐Sierra
- Red de Biodiversidad y Sistemática, Instituto de Ecología (INECOL A.C.), Xalapa Mexico
- Grupo de Entomología Universidad de Antioquia (GEUA), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin Colombia
| | - Carlos García‐Robledo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut U.S.A
| | - Federico Escobar
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología (INECOL A.C.), Xalapa Mexico
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35
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Leong CM, Tsang TPN, Guénard B. Testing the reliability and ecological implications of ramping rates in the measurement of Critical Thermal maximum. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265361. [PMID: 35286353 PMCID: PMC8920270 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Critical Thermal maximum (CTmax) is often used to characterize the upper thermal limits of organisms and represents a key trait for evaluating the fitness of ectotherms. The lack of standardization in CTmax assays has, however, introduced methodological problems in its measurement, which can lead to questionable estimates of species’ upper thermal limits. Focusing on ants, which are model organisms for research on thermal ecology, we aim to obtain a reliable ramping rate that will yield the most rigorous measures of CTmax for the most species. After identifying three commonly used ramping rates (i.e., 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0°C min-1) in the literature, we experimentally determine their effects on the CTmax values of 27 species measured using dynamic assays. Next, we use static assays to evaluate the accuracy of these values in function of the time of exposure. Finally, we use field observations of species’ foraging activities across a wide range of ground temperatures to identify the most biologically relevant CTmax values and to develop a standardized method. Our results demonstrate that the use of a 1°C min-1 ramping rate in dynamic assays yields the most reliable CTmax values for comparing ant species’ upper thermal limits, which are further validated in static assays and field observations. We further illustrate how methodological biases in physiological trait measurements can affect subsequent analyses and conclusions on community comparisons between strata and habitats, and the detection of phylogenetic signal (Pagel’s λ and Bloomberg’s K). Overall, our study presents a methodological framework for identifying a reliable and standardized ramping rate to measure CTmax in ants, which can be applied to other ectotherms. Particular attention should be given to CTmax values obtained with less suitable ramping rates, and the potential biases they may introduce to trait-based research on global warming and habitat conversion, as well as inferences about phylogenetic conservatism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chi-Man Leong
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Toby P. N. Tsang
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Benoit Guénard
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Abstract
Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusocial and colonial organisms-their lifecycle is built on the labor of sterile worker ants who support a small number of reproductive individuals. Given the climatic changes that our planet faces, we need to understand how various important taxonomic groups will respond; this includes the ants. In this review, we synthesize the available literature to tackle this question. The answer is complicated. The ant literature has focused on temperature, and we broadly understand the ways in which thermal changes may affect ant colonies, populations, and communities. In general, we expect that species living in the Tropics, and in thermally variable microhabitats, such as the canopy and leaf litter environments, will be negatively impacted by rising temperatures. Species living in the temperate zones and those able to thermally buffer their nests in the soil or behaviorally avoid higher temperatures, however, are likely to be unaffected or may even benefit from a changed climate. How ants will respond to changes to other abiotic drivers associated with climate change is largely unknown, as is the detail on how altered ant populations and communities will ramify through their wider ecological networks. We discuss how eusociality may allow ants to adapt to, or tolerate, climate change in ways that solitary organisms cannot and we identify key geographic and phylogenetic hotspots of climate vulnerability and resistance. We finish by emphasizing the key research questions that we need to address moving forward so that we may fully appreciate how this critical insect group will respond to the ongoing climate crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine L. Parr
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological SciencesUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpoolUK
- Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental SciencesUniversity of the WitwatersrandWitsSouth Africa
| | - Tom R. Bishop
- Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
- School of BiosciencesCardiff UniversityCardiffUK
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37
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Williamson J, Teh E, Jucker T, Brindle M, Bush E, Chung AYC, Parrett J, Lewis OT, Rossiter SJ, Slade EM. Local‐scale temperature gradients driven by human disturbance shape the physiological and morphological traits of dung beetle communities in a Bornean oil‐palm‐forest mosaic. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Williamson
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road London UK
| | - Enoch Teh
- Asian School of the Environment Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue Singapore City Singapore
| | - Tommaso Jucker
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Ave Bristol UK
| | - Matilda Brindle
- Department of Anthropology University College London 14 Taviton Street London
| | - Emma Bush
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Arboretum Pl Edinburgh UK
| | - Arthur Y. C. Chung
- Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, P.O. Box 1407, 90715 Sandakan Sabah Malaysia
| | - Jonathan Parrett
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Faculty of Biology Adam Mickiewicz University ul. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6 Poznań Poland
| | - Owen T. Lewis
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - Stephen J. Rossiter
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road London UK
| | - Eleanor M. Slade
- Asian School of the Environment Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue Singapore City Singapore
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
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38
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Lamarre GPA, Pardikes NA, Segar S, Hackforth CN, Laguerre M, Vincent B, Lopez Y, Perez F, Bobadilla R, Silva JAR, Basset Y. More winners than losers over 12 years of monitoring tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae) on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210519. [PMID: 35382585 PMCID: PMC8984363 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the causes and consequences of insect declines has become an important goal in ecology, particularly in the tropics, where most terrestrial diversity exists. Over the past 12 years, the ForestGEO Arthropod Initiative has systematically monitored multiple insect groups on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, providing baseline data for assessing long-term population trends. Here, we estimate the rates of change in abundance among 96 tiger moth species on BCI. Population trends of most species were stable (n = 20) or increasing (n = 62), with few (n = 14) declining species. Our analysis of morphological and climatic sensitivity traits associated with population trends shows that species-specific responses to climate were most strongly linked with trends. Specifically, tiger moth species that are more abundant in warmer and wetter years are more likely to show population increases. Our study contrasts with recent findings indicating insect decline in tropical and temperate regions. These results highlight the significant role of biotic responses to climate in determining long-term population trends and suggest that future climate changes are likely to impact tropical insect communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greg P A Lamarre
- Department of Ecology, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice 37005, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá City, Republic of Panamá
| | - Nicholas A Pardikes
- Department of Ecology, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice 37005, Czech Republic.,Department of Life and Earth Sciences, Perimeter College, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA
| | - Simon Segar
- Agriculture and Environment Department, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, UK
| | - Charles N Hackforth
- Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Michel Laguerre
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Systématique et Évolution, Entomologie, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris, France
| | - Benoît Vincent
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Département Systématique et Évolution, Entomologie, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris, France
| | - Yacksecari Lopez
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá City, Republic of Panamá
| | - Filonila Perez
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá City, Republic of Panamá
| | - Ricardo Bobadilla
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá City, Republic of Panamá
| | - José Alejandro Ramírez Silva
- ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá City, Republic of Panamá
| | - Yves Basset
- Department of Ecology, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice 37005, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,ForestGEO, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Panamá City, Republic of Panamá.,Maestria de Entomologia, Universidad de Panamá, Apartado 3366, Panamá 4, Panamá
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39
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Bujan J, Nottingham AT, Velasquez E, Meir P, Kaspari M, Yanoviak SP. Tropical ant community responses to experimental soil warming. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210518. [PMID: 35382584 PMCID: PMC8984296 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change is one of the primary agents of the global decline in insect abundance. Because of their narrow thermal ranges, tropical ectotherms are predicted to be most threatened by global warming, yet tests of this prediction are often confounded by other anthropogenic disturbances. We used a tropical forest soil warming experiment to directly test the effect of temperature increase on litter-dwelling ants. Two years of continuous warming led to a change in ant community between warming and control plots. Specifically, six ant genera were recorded only on warming plots, and one genus only on control plots. Wasmannia auropuctata, a species often invasive elsewhere but native to this forest, was more abundant in warmed plots. Ant recruitment at baits was best predicted by soil surface temperature and ant heat tolerance. These results suggest that heat tolerance is useful for predicting changes in daily foraging activity, which is directly tied to colony fitness. We show that a 2-year increase in temperature (of 2-4°C) can have a profound effect on the most abundant insects, potentially favouring species with invasive traits and moderate heat tolerances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Bujan
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
| | - Andrew T. Nottingham
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Esther Velasquez
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
| | - Patrick Meir
- School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Michael Kaspari
- Geographical Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
| | - Stephen P. Yanoviak
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama
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40
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Bujan J, Ollier S, Villalta I, Devers S, Cerdá X, Amor F, Dahbi A, Bertelsmeier C, Boulay R. Can thermoregulatory traits and evolutionary history predict climatic niches of thermal specialists? DIVERS DISTRIB 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Bujan
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Sébastien Ollier
- Department of Ecology, Systematics and Evolution University Paris‐Saclay CNRS AgroParisTech Orsay France
| | - Irene Villalta
- Institute of Insect Biology University François Rabelais of Tours Tours France
| | - Séverine Devers
- Institute of Insect Biology University François Rabelais of Tours Tours France
| | - Xim Cerdá
- Department of Ecology, Systematics and Evolution University Paris‐Saclay CNRS AgroParisTech Orsay France
- Estación Biológica de Doñana CSIC Sevilla Spain
| | | | - Abdallah Dahbi
- Department of Biology Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi Cadi Ayyad University Safi Morocco
| | - Cleo Bertelsmeier
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Raphaël Boulay
- Institute of Insect Biology University François Rabelais of Tours Tours France
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41
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Bujan J, Yanoviak SP. Behavioral response to heat stress of twig-nesting canopy ants. Oecologia 2022; 198:947-955. [PMID: 35254505 PMCID: PMC9056446 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05143-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Tropical forests experience a relatively stable climate, but are not thermally uniform. The tropical forest canopy is hotter and thermally more variable than the understory. Heat stress in the canopy is expected to increase with global warming, potentially threatening its inhabitants. Here, we assess the impact of heating on the most abundant tropical canopy arthropods—ants. While foragers can escape hot branches, brood and workers inside twig nests might be unable to avoid heat stress. We examined nest choice and absconding behavior—nest evacuation in response to heat stress—of four common twig-nesting ant genera. We found that genera nesting almost exclusively in the canopy occupy smaller cavities compared to Camponotus and Crematogaster that nest across all forest strata. Crematogaster ants absconded at the lowest temperatures in heating experiments with both natural and artificial nests. Cephalotes workers were overall less likely to abscond from their nests. This is the first test of behavioral thermoregulation in tropical forest canopy ants, and it highlights different strategies and sensitivities to heat stress. Behavioral avoidance is the first line of defense against heat stress and will be crucial for small ectotherms facing increasing regional and local temperatures.
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42
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Tscholl T, Nachman G, Spangl B, Walzer A. Heat waves affect prey and predators differently via developmental plasticity: who may benefit most from global warming? Pest Manag Sci 2022; 78:1099-1108. [PMID: 34786827 DOI: 10.1002/ps.6722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Climate warming is considered to affect the characteristics of heat waves by increasing their duration, frequency and intensity, which can have dramatic consequences for ectothermic arthropods. However, arthropods may respond to heat waves via plastic modifications, which could differently affect a predator and its prey. We examined this assumption using prominent counterparts in biological control, the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis and its prey, the spider mite Tetranychus urticae. Individuals of both species were separately exposed to mild and extreme heat waves during their juvenile development. RESULTS Both species developed faster during extreme heat waves, but the proportional increase of the developmental rates was higher in the prey. Independent of sex, P. persimilis reached smaller size at maturity under extreme heat waves, whereas the body size modifications were sex-dependent in T. urticae: males became smaller, but females were able to maintain their size. CONCLUSIONS An accelerated development may result in the reduction of the exposure time of susceptible juvenile stages to heat waves and prey stages to predators. Plastic size adjustments caused a shift in the female predator-prey body size ratio in favor of the prey, which may lead to higher heat resistance and reduced predation risk for prey females under extreme heat waves. In conclusion, our findings indicate that species-specific shifts in age and size at maturity may result in lower suppression efficacy of the predator P. persimilis against its prey T. urticae with severe consequences for biological control of spider mites, if global warming continues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Tscholl
- Department of Crop Sciences, Institute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gösta Nachman
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bernhard Spangl
- Department of Landscape, Spatial and Infrastructure Sciences, Institute of Statistics, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Walzer
- Department of Crop Sciences, Institute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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43
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Nascimento G, Câmara T, Arnan X. Critical thermal limits in ants and their implications under climate change. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1287-1305. [PMID: 35174946 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Critical thermal limits (CTLs) constrain the performance of organisms, shaping their abundance, current distributions, and future distributions. Consequently, CTLs may also determine the quality of ecosystem services as well as organismal and ecosystem vulnerability to climate change. As some of the most ubiquitous animals in terrestrial ecosystems, ants are important members of ecological communities. In recent years, an increasing body of research has explored ant physiological thermal limits. However, these CTL data tend to centre on a few species and biogeographical regions. To encourage an expansion of perspectives, we herein review the factors that determine ant CTLs and examine their effects on present and future species distributions and ecosystem processes. Special emphasis is placed on the implications of CTLs for safeguarding ant diversity and ant-mediated ecosystem services in the future. First, we compile, quantify, and categorise studies on ant CTLs based on study taxon, biogeographical region, methodology, and study question. Second, we use this comprehensive database to analyse the abiotic and biotic factors shaping ant CTLs. Our results highlight how CTLs may affect future distribution patterns and ecological performance in ants. Additionally, we identify the greatest remaining gaps in knowledge and create a research roadmap to promote rapid advances in this field of study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geraldo Nascimento
- Universidade de Pernambuco - Campus Garanhuns, Rua Capitão Pedro Rodrigues, 105 - São José, Garanhuns, 55294-902, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Ambiental, Universidade de Pernambuco - Campus Petrolina, BR 203, KM 2 - Vila Eduardo, Petrolina, 56328-900, Brazil
| | - Talita Câmara
- Universidade de Pernambuco - Campus Garanhuns, Rua Capitão Pedro Rodrigues, 105 - São José, Garanhuns, 55294-902, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Ambiental, Universidade de Pernambuco - Campus Petrolina, BR 203, KM 2 - Vila Eduardo, Petrolina, 56328-900, Brazil
| | - Xavier Arnan
- Universidade de Pernambuco - Campus Garanhuns, Rua Capitão Pedro Rodrigues, 105 - São José, Garanhuns, 55294-902, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Ambiental, Universidade de Pernambuco - Campus Petrolina, BR 203, KM 2 - Vila Eduardo, Petrolina, 56328-900, Brazil.,CREAF, Campus de Bellaterra (UAB) Edifici C, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193, Spain
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44
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Woon JS, Atkinson D, Adu-Bredu S, Eggleton P, Parr CL. Termites have wider thermal limits to cope with environmental conditions in savannas. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:766-779. [PMID: 35157309 PMCID: PMC9307009 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The most diverse and abundant family of termites, the Termitidae, evolved in African tropical forests. They have since colonised grassy biomes such as savannas. These open environments have more extreme conditions than tropical forests, notably wider extremes of temperature and lower precipitation levels and greater temporal fluctuations (of both annual and diurnal variation). These conditions are challenging for soft‐bodied ectotherms, such as termites, to survive in, let alone become as ecologically dominant as termites have. Here, we quantified termite thermal limits to test the hypothesis that these physiological limits are wider in savanna termite species to facilitate their existence in savanna environments. We sampled termites directly from mound structures, across an environmental gradient in Ghana, ranging from wet tropical forest through to savanna. At each location, we quantified both the Critical Thermal Maxima (CTmax) and the Critical Thermal Minima (CTmin) of all the most abundant mound‐building Termitidae species in the study areas. We modelled the thermal limits in two separate mixed‐effects models against canopy cover at the mound, temperature and rainfall, as fixed effects, with sampling location as a random intercept. For both CTmax and CTmin, savanna species had significantly more extreme thermal limits than forest species. Between and within environments, areas with higher amounts of canopy cover were significantly associated with lower CTmax values of the termite colonies. CTmin was significantly positively correlated with rainfall. Temperature was retained in both models; however, it did not have a significant relationship in either. Sampling location explained a large proportion of the residual variation, suggesting there are other environmental factors that could influence termite thermal limits. Our results suggest that savanna termite species have wider thermal limits than forest species. These physiological differences, in conjunction with other behavioural adaptations, are likely to have enabled termites to cope with the more extreme environmental conditions found in savanna environments and facilitated their expansion into open tropical environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel S Woon
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.,Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - David Atkinson
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, University of Liverpool, UK
| | - Stephen Adu-Bredu
- CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Kumasi, Ghana.,Department of Natural Resources Management, CSIR College of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Paul Eggleton
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Catherine L Parr
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.,Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.,School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witswatersrand, Wits, South Africa
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45
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Meng S, Delnat V, Stoks R. Multigenerational effects modify the tolerance of mosquito larvae to chlorpyrifos but not to a heat spike and do not change their synergism. Environ Pollut 2022; 292:118333. [PMID: 34637829 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
While interactions with global warming and multigenerational effects are considered crucial to improve risk assessment of pesticides, these have rarely been studied in an integrated way. While heat extremes can magnify pesticide toxicity, no studies tested how their combined effects may transmit to the next generation. We exposed mosquito larvae in a full factorial, two-generation experiment to a heat spike followed by chlorpyrifos exposure. As expected, the heat spike magnified the chlorpyrifos-induced lethal and sublethal effects within both generations. Only when preceded by the heat spike, chlorpyrifos increased mortality and reduced the population growth rate. Moreover, chlorpyrifos-induced reductions in heat tolerance (CTmax), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and development time were further magnified by the heat spike. Notably, when parents were exposed to chlorpyrifos, the chlorpyrifos-induced lethal and sublethal effects in the offspring were smaller, indicating increased tolerance to chlorpyrifos. In contrast, there was no such multigenerational effect for the heat spike. Despite the adaptive multigenerational effect to the pesticide, the synergism with the heat spike was still present in the offspring generation. Generally, our results provide important evidence that short exposure to pulse-like global change stressors can strongly affect organisms within and across generations, and highlight the importance of considering multigenerational effects in risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shandong Meng
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Stress Ecology and Ecotoxicology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Vienna Delnat
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Stress Ecology and Ecotoxicology, University of Leuven, Belgium
| | - Robby Stoks
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Stress Ecology and Ecotoxicology, University of Leuven, Belgium
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Kaspari M, Joern A, Welti EAR. How and why grasshopper community maturation rates are slowing on a North American tall grass prairie. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210510. [PMID: 35078328 PMCID: PMC8790374 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Invertebrate growth rates have been changing in the Anthropocene. We examine rates of seasonal maturation in a grasshopper community that has been declining annually greater than 2% a year over 34 years. As this grassland has experienced a 1°C increase in temperature, higher plant biomass and lower nutrient densities, the community is maturing more slowly. Community maturation had a nutritional component: declining in years/watersheds with lower plant nitrogen. The effects of fire frequency were consistent with effects of plant nitrogen. Principal components analysis also suggests associated changes in species composition-declines in the densities of grass feeders were associated with declines in community maturation rates. We conclude that slowed maturation rates-a trend counteracted by frequent burning-likely contribute to long-term decline of this dominant herbivore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Kaspari
- Geographical Ecology Group, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Anthony Joern
- Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
| | - Ellen A. R. Welti
- Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany
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Nervo B, Roggero A, Isaia M, Chamberlain D, Rolando A, Palestrini C. Integrating thermal tolerance, water balance and morphology: An experimental study on dung beetles. J Therm Biol 2021; 101:103093. [PMID: 34879911 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.103093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The impacts of extreme and rising mean temperatures due to climate change can pose significant physiological challenges for insects. An integrated approach that focuses on mechanisms of body temperature regulation, water balance and morphology may help to unravel the functional traits underpinning thermoregulation strategies and the most relevant trade-offs between temperature and water balance regulation. Here, we focused on four species of tunneler dung beetles as important providers of ecosystem services. In this experimental research, we first quantified two traits related to desiccation resistance and tolerance via experimental tests, and subsequently defined two levels of resistance and tolerance (i.e. low and high) according to significant differences among species. Second, we identified morphological traits correlated with water balance strategies, and we found that desiccation resistance and tolerance increased with small relative size of spiracles and wings. High levels of desiccation tolerance were also correlated with small body mass. Third, by integrating thermal tolerance with functional traits based on desiccation resistance and desiccation tolerance, we found that the species with the highest survival rates under elevated temperatures (Euoniticellus fulvus) was characterized by low desiccation resistance and high desiccation tolerance. Our results suggest shared physiological and morphological responses to temperature and desiccation, with potential conflicts between the need to regulate heat and water balance. They also highlighted the sensitivity of a large species such as Geotrupes stercorarius to warm and arid conditions with potential implications for its geographic distribution and the provisioning of ecosystem services under a climate change scenario.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Nervo
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy.
| | - Angela Roggero
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy
| | - Marco Isaia
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy
| | - Dan Chamberlain
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy
| | - Antonio Rolando
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy
| | - Claudia Palestrini
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy
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Braschler B, Chown SL, Duffy GA. Sub-critical limits are viable alternatives to critical thermal limits. J Therm Biol 2021; 101:103106. [PMID: 34879920 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.103106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Revised: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Thermal traits are frequently used to explain variation in species distributions, abundance, and sensitivity to climate change. Due to their utility and ease of measurement, critical thermal limits in particular have proliferated across the ecophysiological literature. Critical limit assays can, however, have deleterious or even lethal effects on individuals and there is growing recognition that intermediate metrics of performance can provide a further, nuanced understanding of how species interact with their environments. Meanwhile, the scarcity of data describing sub-critical or voluntary limits, which have been proposed as alternatives to critical limits and can be collected under less extreme conditions, reduces their value in comparative analyses and broad-scale syntheses. To overcome these limitations and determine if sub-critical limits are viable proxies for upper and lower critical thermal limits we measured and compared the critical and sub-critical thermal limits of 2023 ants representing 51 species. Sub-critical limits in isolation were a satisfactory linear predictor for both individual and species critical limits and when species identity was also considered there were substantial gains in variance explained. These gains indicate that a species-specific conversion factor can further improve estimates of critical traits using sub-critical proxies. Sub-critical limits can, therefore, be integrated into broader syntheses of critical limits and confidently used to calculate common ecological metrics, such as warming tolerance, so long as uncertainty in estimates is explicitly acknowledged. Although lower thermal traits exhibited more variation than their upper counterparts, the stronger phylogenetic signal of lower thermal traits indicates that appropriate conversions for lower thermal traits can be inferred from congenerics or other closely related taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Braschler
- Section of Conservation Biology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Vorstadt 10, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland; DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa
| | - Steven L Chown
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia
| | - Grant A Duffy
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marshall McMunn
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, California 95618
| | - Adam Pepi
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, California 95618
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Sankovitz M, Purcell J. Ant nest architecture is shaped by local adaptation and plastic response to temperature. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23053. [PMID: 34845261 PMCID: PMC8630048 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02491-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Social insects are among the most abundant arthropods in terrestrial ecosystems, where they provide ecosystem services. The effect of subterranean activity of ants on soil is well-studied, yet little is known about nest architecture due to the difficulty of observing belowground patterns. Furthermore, many species’ ranges span environmental gradients, and their nest architecture is likely shaped by the climatic and landscape features of their specific habitats. We investigated the effects of two temperature treatments on the shape and size of nests built by Formica podzolica ants collected from high and low elevations in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in a full factorial experiment. Ants nested in experimental chambers with soil surface temperatures matching the local temperatures of sample sites. We observed a plastic response of nest architecture to conditions experienced during excavation; workers experiencing a high temperature excavated deeper nests than those experiencing a cooler temperature. Further, we found evidence of local adaptation to temperature, with a significant interaction effect of natal elevation and temperature treatment on nest size and complexity. Specifically, workers from high elevation sites built larger nests with more tunnels when placed in the cool surface temperature treatment, and workers from low elevation sites exhibited the opposite pattern. Our results suggest that subterranean ant nest architecture is shaped by a combination of plastic and locally adapted building behaviors; we suggest that the flexibility of this ‘extended phenotype’ likely contributes to the widespread success of ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madison Sankovitz
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
| | - Jessica Purcell
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
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