title: Heat resistance throughout ontogeny: body size constrains thermal tolerance.
abstract: Heat tolerance is a trait of paramount ecological importance and may determine a species' ability to cope with ongoing climate change. Although critical thermal limits have consequently received substantial attention in recent years, their potential variation throughout ontogeny remained largely neglected. We investigate whether such neglect may bias conclusions regarding a species' sensitivity to climate change. Using a tropical butterfly, we found that developmental stages clearly differed in heat tolerance. It was highest in pupae followed by larvae, adults and finally eggs and hatchlings. Strikingly, most of the variation found in thermal tolerance was explained by differences in body mass, which may thus impose a severe constraint on adaptive variation in stress tolerance. Furthermore, temperature acclimation was beneficial by increasing heat knock-down time and therefore immediate survival under heat stress, but it affected reproduction negatively. Extreme temperatures strongly reduced survival and subsequent reproductive success even in our highly plastic model organism, exemplifying the potentially dramatic impact of extreme weather events on biodiversity. We argue that predictions regarding a species' fate under changing environmental conditions should consider variation in thermal tolerance throughout ontogeny, variation in body mass and acclimation responses as important predictors of stress tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, D-17489, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klockmann
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, D-17489, Germany.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Günter
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, D-17489, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D002080:Butterflies; D057231:Climate Change; D006358:Hot Temperature; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Bogert effect; acclimation; climate change; constraint; development; heat stress resistance; reproduction; tropical butterfly