Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tim Burton, Irja Ida Ratikainen, Sigurd Einum
Summary: This article examines the rate at which reversible phenotypic plasticity (RPP) occurs and its potential impact on how organisms overcome environmental challenges. The study suggests that current theoretical models do not consider the evolutionary potential of RPP rates. If the rate of plasticity itself can evolve, it may alter the organism's perception of environmental predictability and influence the slope of the evolved reaction norm. The optimization of phenotypic plasticity rates, their evolutionary dynamics in different environments, and the costs associated with them warrant further exploration in future research.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jorge L. Turriago, Miguel Tejedo, Julio M. Hoyos, Agustin Camacho, Manuel H. Bernal
Summary: The study found that the thermal environment affects the changes in the critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and its acclimation rate in neotropical anuran larvae. The hot treatment resulted in higher CTmax values at earlier times, leading to faster acclimation rates, while thermal fluctuations led to higher CTmax values but slower acclimation rates. These effects varied across different species.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Melanie D. Massey, M. Kate Fredericks, David Malloy, Suchinta Arif, Jeffrey A. Hutchings
Summary: The study found direct negative effects of thermal variability on reproductive performance metrics in zebrafish and complex interactive effects of early and late-life exposure to thermal variability, highlighting the plastic life-history modifications that fish may undergo as their thermal environments become increasingly variable.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Saskia Jurriaans, Mia O. Hoogenboom, Christine Ferrier-Pages
Summary: Contrary to expectations, tropical and temperate coral species exhibited similar performance breadths in photosynthesis and electron transport rates, with thermal optima generally below local average temperature. This suggests that corals have adapted to cope with temperature variation, but current temperatures are pushing the boundaries of coral thermal tolerance.
Article
Biology
Erica O'Neill, Hannah E. Davis, Heath A. MacMillan
Summary: The study found that although the relationship between basal tolerance and plasticity was not significant in non-acclimated flies, there was still a strong correlation between the two in cold-acclimated flies, which may be influenced by statistical artifact. This suggests that previous patterns of thermal tolerance trade-off in similar studies may be affected by regression to the mean effects. Control and correction for such effects are crucial in determining the existence of a trade-off or physiological constraint.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Yidi Wu, Xunkai Yu, Ning Suo, Huaqiang Bai, Qiaozhen Ke, Jia Chen, Ying Pan, Weiqiang Zheng, Peng Xu
Summary: With the ongoing climate change, the thermal biology of large yellow croaker, an important mariculture fish in China, was evaluated. The study found that large yellow croaker has a certain thermal tolerance to cope with high sea surface temperatures caused by climate change, but long-term exposure to high temperatures may result in reduced growth and increased oxidative stress. Therefore, the current farming mode of large yellow croaker may be more vulnerable to elevated temperatures on production.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mirindi Eric Dusenge, Jeffrey M. Warren, Peter B. Reich, Eric J. Ward, Bridget K. Murphy, Artur Stefanski, Raimundo Bermudez, Marisol Cruz, David A. McLennan, Anthony W. King, Rebecca A. Montgomery, Paul J. Hanson, Danielle A. Way
Summary: Acclimation of tree photosynthesis to warming may be affected by elevated CO2. Mature boreal conifers demonstrated the ability to maintain leaf-level C uptake under warming and elevated CO2, even if the optimum temperature of photosynthesis does not track increased temperature. Warming shifts the thermal optimum of net photosynthesis (T-optA) to higher temperatures, but it is uncertain whether field-grown trees can keep pace with predicted temperatures in the future. This study found that T-optA of mature boreal conifers increased with warming but did not match the rate of warming, implying that these trees can thermally acclimate photosynthesis to maintain carbon uptake in future air temperatures.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Claudia Cocozza, Maria Laura Traversi, Alessio Giovannelli
Summary: Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme events, impacting the harshness of the environment and tree growth under natural conditions. Traditional single dose-effect approach is deemed inadequate in explaining the complex genotype-environment interactions in open field or forest stands. There is a need to develop new approaches and technologies to define suitable threshold responses of trees under suboptimal natural conditions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Andrew J. F. Cox, Sebastian Gonzalez-Caro, Patrick Meir, Iain P. Hartley, Zorayda Restrepo, Juan C. Villegas, Adriana Sanchez, Lina M. Mercado
Summary: This study found that cold-affiliated species in Andean tropical montane forests struggle to adapt their leaf functional traits to warming, while warm-affiliated species are able to adjust their traits from acquisitive to conservative strategies in response to cooling. This suggests that warm-affiliated species may have a competitive advantage under climate change, potentially leading to compositional shifts in these ecosystems.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biology
Jackson H. Birrell, James I. Frakes, Alisha A. Shah, H. Arthur Woods
Summary: The Climate Variability Hypothesis (CVH) predicts that ectotherms from thermally variable climates should have wider thermal tolerances than their counterparts living in stable climates. We tested this hypothesis by measuring CTMIN, CTMAX, and thermal breadths of aquatic mayfly and stonefly nymphs from adjacent streams with distinctly different levels of thermal variation. In support of the CVH, we found that mayfly and stonefly nymphs from the thermally variable stream had broader thermal tolerances than those from the thermally stable stream. However, the underlying mechanisms for these differences differed between species, with mayflies relying on long-term strategies and stoneflies using short-term plasticity.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Colin C. Smith, Matthew Gilbert
Summary: This paper discusses the discontinuous slip-line form of upper bound plasticity analysis using an equilibrium of forces approach with stress functions. It presents an alternative proof of the upper bound theorem applicable to both associative and non-associative materials. The broader nature of the equilibrium form and its strict conditions, including the apparent omission of moment equilibrium and associativity in many equilibrium form solutions, are also discussed. Finally, the paper demonstrates the relationship between the stress function formulation and the output of the computational limit analysis method discontinuity layout optimization (DLO), as well as the potential to use the stress function formulation to derive a form of lower bound solution from an upper bound analysis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOLIDS AND STRUCTURES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sampan Tongnunui, Treerat Sooksawat, Charoonroj Chotwiwatthanakun, Weerayuth Supiwong, Amnuay Wattanakornsiri, F. W. H. Beamish
Summary: Seasonal change affects the Critical thermal maximum (CTmax) of riverine fishes, with lower thermal tolerance in the wet season and higher tolerance in the dry season. The variations in CTmax for the four studied fish species can be attributed to their seasonal plasticity in response to thermal stress. R. caudimaculata and M. chilopterus show higher capacities to tolerate heat stress across both wet and dry seasons.
Article
Zoology
Katharina Ruthsatz, Kathrin H. Dausmann, Myron A. Peck, Julian Glos
Summary: Phenotypic plasticity allows ectotherms to cope with climate changes, but the thermal tolerance and acclimation capacity vary with life stage. In this study, the common frog was used to examine the stage-specific acclimation capacity at different acclimation temperatures. The results showed that thermal tolerance and acclimation capacity were influenced by ontogenetic stage, and the lowest acclimation capacity was observed in young larvae.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Yanet Sepulveda, Dave Goulson
Summary: Climate change is a significant challenge and major driver of biodiversity loss. This study investigates the ability of temperate bumblebees to acclimate to extreme weather events and reveals that exposure to heatwave-like events does not change their upper thermal tolerance.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Lingling Zhu, Keith J. Bloomfield, Shinichi Asao, Mark G. Tjoelker, John J. G. Egerton, Lucy Hayes, Lasantha K. Weerasinghe, Danielle Creek, Kevin L. Griffin, Vaughan Hurry, Michael Liddell, Patrick Meir, Matthew H. Turnbull, Owen K. Atkin
Summary: Short-term temperature response curves of leaf dark respiration provide insights into how plant respiratory traits acclimate to changing environmental conditions. The study shows that thermal acclimation of leaf respiration is common in most biomes, with the threshold of respiration adjusting in response to warmer climates.
