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Generalist-specialist trade-off during thermal acclimation
Frank Seebacher1, Varlérie Ducret2, Alexander G Little1
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney , New South Wales 2006, Australia.
Royal Society Open Science
|June 12, 2015
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity through acclimation does not eliminate the generalist-specialist trade-off in mosquitofish swimming performance. Even with acclimation, cold adaptation can reduce performance in warmer conditions, indicating a persistent trade-off.
Area of Science:
- Physiological ecology
- Evolutionary biology
- Animal behavior
Background:
- Performance curves and plasticity are key to understanding environmental variability responses.
- A theoretical generalist-specialist trade-off suggests broader performance comes at a cost to maximum performance.
- Phenotypic plasticity, like acclimation, might counteract this trade-off by allowing performance optima to track environmental shifts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if reversible acclimation negates the generalist-specialist trade-off in mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki).
- To determine if acclimation to different temperatures alters performance maxima and breadth.
- To examine the relationship between acclimation capacity and performance across thermal conditions.
Main Methods:
- Mosquitofish were consecutively acclimated to cool and warm temperatures.
- Swimming performance curves were measured after each acclimation.
- Individual differences in performance maxima, breadth, and acclimation capacity were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Significant variation existed among individuals in performance maxima, breadth, and acclimation capacity.
- Acclimation shifted the temperature of maximal performance as predicted.
- A generalist-specialist trade-off persisted within and across acclimation treatments, with cold acclimation reducing warm-season performance.
Conclusions:
- Acclimation does not eliminate the generalist-specialist trade-off in mosquitofish.
- Cold acclimation may function as a generalist strategy for cooler periods but incurs a performance cost in warmer conditions.
- The generalist-specialist trade-off appears to be a fundamental property of this system, persisting despite phenotypic plasticity.
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