Maternal and cohort effects modulate offspring responses to multiple stressors

Area of Science:

• Marine Biology
• Ecology
• Climate Change Research

Background:

• Climate change introduces environmental stressors impacting marine invertebrate and fish offspring performance.
• Understanding how maternal environments modulate offspring responses to climate stressors across life stages is crucial but understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of maternal exposure to temperature and salinity on the performance of shore crab (Carcinus maenas) offspring.
• To determine if maternal environmental conditions during embryogenesis influence offspring's response to concurrent stressors.

Main Methods:

• Shore crabs were bred under different seasonal temperature and salinity conditions.
• Offspring performance (survival) was assessed in response to combined temperature and salinity stressors.
• Maternal environmental conditions during embryogenesis were analyzed for their modulatory effects on offspring responses.

Main Results:

• Offspring exhibited antagonistic responses to temperature and salinity stressors, with elevated temperatures reducing the negative impact of low salinity on survival.
• The magnitude of offspring response to stressors was significantly modulated by the temperature and salinity experienced by brooding mothers.
• Cohort-specific performance variations suggest potential influences of genetic variation and pre-embryogenesis maternal conditions.

Conclusions:

• Maternal environmental conditions during embryogenesis play a critical role in shaping offspring's resilience to climate-driven stressors.
• Anthropogenic modifications of the maternal environment can have complex, cascading effects on offspring performance in marine invertebrates.
• This research highlights the importance of considering transgenerational effects and maternal influences in predicting species' responses to climate change.