Thermal Preference Plasticity in Ectotherms: Integrating Temperature Affinity and Thermoregulation Precision.

Area of Science:

• Zoology
• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Thermal preference (Tp) is crucial for ectotherm survival, preventing exposure to lethal temperatures.
• Tp plasticity is recognized across ontogeny, but its variation across life stages remains unclear.
• Behavioral thermoregulation importance is modulated by Tp plasticity under changing environmental conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel conceptual framework for Tp plasticity, distinguishing between temperature affinity (mean) and thermoregulation precision (variance).
• To test this framework by measuring Tp variations across life stages in Drosophila melanogaster.
• To investigate the plasticity of Tp across different life stages and its implications for thermoregulatory strategies.

Main Methods:

• Measured Tp variations across multiple life stages of Drosophila melanogaster populations.
• Exposed insect populations to contrasting developmental temperatures for several generations.
• Analyzed the relationship between temperature affinity and precision of thermoregulation.

Main Results:

• Tp plastic responses varied significantly among different life stages of Drosophila melanogaster.
• A general bell-shaped relationship was observed between temperature affinity and thermoregulation precision.
• This relationship suggests a strategy to avoid suboptimal and supraoptimal temperatures, though not uniformly across all life stages.

Conclusions:

• The study highlights the differential plasticity of thermal preference across insect life stages.
• A novel framework reveals a trade-off between temperature affinity and thermoregulation precision.
• Rethinking Tp plasticity beyond single metrics is essential for understanding thermoregulatory strategies in ectotherms.