title: Cardiac reflexes in a warming world: thermal plasticity of barostatic control and autonomic tones in a temperate fish.
abstract: Thermal plasticity of cardiorespiratory function allows ectotherms like fish to cope with seasonal temperature changes and is critical for resilience to climate change. Yet, the chronic thermal effects on cardiovascular homeostatic reflexes in fish are little understood although this may have important implications for physiological performance and overall resilience to climate warming. We compared cardiac autonomic control and baroreflex regulation of heart rate in perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) from a reference area in the Baltic Sea at 18-19°C with conspecifics from the Biotest enclosure, a chronically heated ecosystem receiving warmed effluent water (24-25°C) from a nuclear power plant. Resting heart rate of Biotest fish displayed clear thermal compensation and was 58.3±2.3 beats min-1compared with 52.4±2.6 beats min-1in reference fish at their respective environmental temperatures (Q10=1.2). The thermally compensated heart rate of Biotest fish was a combined effect of elevated inhibitory cholinergic tone (105% in Biotest fish versus 70% in reference fish) and reduced intrinsic cardiac pacemaker rate. A barostatic response was evident in both groups, as pharmacologically induced increases and decreases in blood pressure resulted in atropine-sensitive bradycardia and tachycardia, respectively. Yet, the tachycardia in Biotest fish was significantly greater, presumably due to the larger scope for vagal release. Acclimation of Biotest fish to 18°C for 3 weeks abolished differences in intrinsic heart rate and autonomic tone, suggesting considerable short-term thermal plasticity of cardiovascular control in this species. The heightened hypotensive tachycardia in Biotest perch may represent an important mechanism of ectothermic vertebrates that safeguards tissue perfusion pressure when tissue oxygen demand is elevated by environmental warming.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden erik.sandblom@bioenv.gu.se.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2228-242X
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sandblom
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ekström
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brijs
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology/Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Box 592, 751 24 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: L Fredrik
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Sundström
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim NO-7491, Norway.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jutfelt
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Cape Cleveland 4810, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Coastal Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skolgatan 6, 742 42 Öregrund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adill
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Coastal Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skolgatan 6, 742 42 Öregrund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Teija
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aho
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 234, 532 23 Skara, Sweden.
authors.forename: Albin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gräns
keywords: Autonomic control; Baroreflex; Blood pressure; Bradycardia; Heart rate; Tachycardia; Temperature acclimation