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Updated: Jan 28, 2026
07:51
A Gnotobiotic System for Studying Microbiome Assembly in the Phyllosphere and in Vegetable Fermentation
Published on: June 3, 2020
7.8K
Narrow safety margin in the phyllosphere during thermal extremes
Sylvain Pincebourde1, Jérôme Casas2,3
1Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS, Université de Tours, 37200 Tours, France; sylvain.pincebourde@univ-tours.fr.
Summary
Ectotherm activity creates unique leaf microclimates, affecting thermal limits and vulnerability to climate change. Understanding these plant-insect feedbacks is crucial for accurate thermal safety margin assessments.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Climate Change Biology
- Physiological Ecology
Background:
- The thermal limit of ectotherms is a key indicator of climate change vulnerability.
- Species' thermal sensitivity is predicted to match their microclimate, but observed thermal limits vary even within the same environment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To resolve the paradox of differing thermal limits among ectotherms in the same microhabitat.
- To investigate how ectotherm activity influences microclimates and subsequent thermal limits.
- To assess species vulnerability to thermal extremes under climate change.
Main Methods:
- Studied upper lethal temperature in six arthropod species feeding on apple leaves.
- Measured the effect of feeding mode on plant gas exchange (transpiration).
- Assessed leaf temperature and calculated thermal safety margins.
Main Results:
- Thermal limits varied by up to 8 °C among species.
- Species increasing leaf transpiration (cooling effect) had lower thermal limits than those decreasing transpiration (warming effect).
- Plant-insect feedbacks create significant microclimatic variations influencing thermal limits.
Conclusions:
- Ectotherm activity and resulting microclimatic variations on leaves determine species' thermal limits.
- Current assessments of thermal safety margins are overestimated when not accounting for these feedbacks.
- Feedback processes in the phyllosphere critically define species vulnerability to thermal extremes.
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