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Protists decrease in size linearly with temperature: ca. 2.5% degrees C(-1).

David Atkinson1, Benjamin J Ciotti, David J S Montagnes

  • 1Population and Evolutionary Biology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, The Biosciences Building, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. DavidA@liv.ac.uk

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|January 20, 2004
PubMed
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The temperature-size rule (TSR) shows ectotherm size decreases as temperature increases. This meta-analysis confirms this rule applies to protists, with cell size shrinking 2.5% per 1°C rise.

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Protistology

Background:

  • The temperature-size rule (TSR) describes an inverse relationship between organism size and rearing temperature in ectotherms.
  • This phenomenon has been well-documented in multicellular organisms but less so in unicellular protists.
  • Quantifying TSR in protists is crucial for understanding their ecological and evolutionary responses to climate change.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To meta-analytically quantify the relationship between temperature and cell volume in protists.
  • To test the applicability of the TSR across diverse protist taxa, habitats, and nutritional modes.
  • To evaluate the consistency of protist TSR with existing hypotheses explaining the rule in ectotherms.

Main Methods:

  • A meta-analysis of published data on protist cell volume and rearing temperature was conducted.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Data from 65 datasets covering marine, brackish, and freshwater environments were analyzed.
  • Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between temperature and cell size.

    • Main Results:

    • A negative trend between temperature and cell size was observed in 32 out of 44 datasets.
    • Combining 65 datasets revealed a 2.5% reduction in cell volume for every 1°C increase in temperature.
    • This effect was consistent across different protist groups, habitats, and nutritional strategies.

    Conclusions:

    • The temperature-size rule (TSR) is a general phenomenon applicable to protists.
    • The findings support hypotheses related to resource limitation and fitness benefits of earlier reproduction at higher temperatures.
    • Understanding protist TSR is essential for accurately modeling population dynamics and biomass changes in response to temperature shifts.