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Field-Based Thermal Physiology Assay: Cold Shock Recovery under Ambient Conditions
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Maladaptive plasticity facilitates evolution of thermal tolerance during an experimental range shift
Aoife M Leonard1, Lesley T Lancaster2
1School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Building, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK. a.leonard@abdn.ac.uk.
BMC Evolutionary Biology
|April 25, 2020
Summary
Organisms adapt to climate change through rapid evolution of thermal tolerance, but this can involve maladaptive plasticity during range expansion into cooler, variable climates. This countergradient variation may drive rapid evolutionary change.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Climate Change Biology
- Ecology
Background:
- Organisms are shifting ranges due to climate change, requiring adaptation via genetic and plastic changes.
- This study investigates thermal tolerance shifts during colonization of novel, cooler climates using experimental seed beetle lineages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how adaptation and phenotypic plasticity contribute to thermal tolerance shifts in organisms colonizing novel climates.
- To understand the role of genetic changes versus plasticity in adapting to cooler and more variable environments.
Main Methods:
- Experimental evolution using seed beetle (Callosobruchus maculatus) lineages.
- Simulating initial colonization phases into progressively cooler and/or more variable temperature conditions.
Main Results:
- Heat and cold tolerance rapidly evolved in lineages adapting to cooler, variable climates.
- Evolved cold tolerance showed maladaptive plasticity in novel conditions, exhibiting countergradient variation.
- Lineages adapting to constant cooler temperatures showed only beneficial plasticity, with no evolved response.
Conclusions:
- Thermal adaptation during range expansion may involve genetic compensation for maladaptive plasticity.
- Countergradient variation offers a mechanism for rapid evolutionary change in thermal tolerance.
- This process can mask genetic variability, leading to apparent stasis in thermal traits.
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