Ontogenetic thermal tolerance and performance of ectotherms at variable temperatures.
Early experience and environmental conditions during ontogeny may affect organismal structure, physiology and fitness. Here, we assessed the effect of developmental acclimation to environmental thermal variability on walking speed in Drosophila melanogaster adults. Our results showed a shift in the performance curve to the right. Thus, upper and lower thermal limits exhibited developmental plasticity. Additionally, in constant and variable climatic scenarios, flies shifted to the right the optimum temperature but the maximum performance decreased only in flies reared on high temperatures and high thermal variability. Overall, we showed that environmental cues during ontogeny might help to construct phenotypic variation, which supports the hypothesis of ontogenetic dependence of thermal tolerances.
Departamento de Ecología and Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
G
G
Cavieres
Departamento de Ecología and Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
J M
JM
Bogdanovich
Departamento de Ecología and Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
F
F
Bozinovic
D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila; D006358:Hot Temperature; D013696:Temperature
Drosophila melanogaster; environmental variability; global warming; ontogeny; performance; thermal tolerance