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Swimming with predators and pesticides: how environmental stressors affect the thermal physiology of tadpoles.

ABSTRACT: To forecast biological responses to changing environments, we need to understand how a species's physiology varies through space and time and assess how changes in physiological function due to environmental changes may interact with phenotypic changes caused by other types of environmental variation. Amphibian larvae are well known for expressing environmentally induced phenotypes, but relatively little is known about how these responses might interact with changing temperatures and their thermal physiology. To address this question, we studied the thermal physiology of grey treefrog tadpoles (Hyla versicolor) by determining whether exposures to predator cues and an herbicide (Roundup) can alter their critical maximum temperature (CTmax) and their swimming speed across a range of temperatures, which provides estimates of optimal temperature (Topt) for swimming speed and the shape of the thermal performance curve (TPC). We discovered that predator cues induced a 0.4°C higher CTmax value, whereas the herbicide had no effect. Tadpoles exposed to predator cues or the herbicide swam faster than control tadpoles and the increase in burst speed was higher near Topt. In regard to the shape of the TPC, exposure to predator cues increased Topt by 1.5°C, while exposure to the herbicide marginally lowered Topt by 0.4°C. Combining predator cues and the herbicide produced an intermediate Topt that was 0.5°C higher than the control. To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate a predator altering the thermal physiology of amphibian larvae (prey) by increasing CTmax, increasing the optimum temperature, and producing changes in the thermal performance curves. Furthermore, these plastic responses of CTmax and TPC to different inducing environments should be considered when forecasting biological responses to global warming.

SUBMITTER: Katzenberger M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4037208 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Swimming with predators and pesticides: how environmental stressors affect the thermal physiology of tadpoles.

Katzenberger Marco M Hammond John J Duarte Helder H Tejedo Miguel M Calabuig Cecilia C Relyea Rick A RA

PloS one 20140528 5

To forecast biological responses to changing environments, we need to understand how a species's physiology varies through space and time and assess how changes in physiological function due to environmental changes may interact with phenotypic changes caused by other types of environmental variation. Amphibian larvae are well known for expressing environmentally induced phenotypes, but relatively little is known about how these responses might interact with changing temperatures and their therm ...[more]

PMID: 24869960

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Project description:Aim To identify genes which are differentially expressed between calcicoles and non- calcicoles. Background Grasslands on the calcareous soils of chalk and other limestones are among the most species-rich plant communities in Europe (Rodwell 1991 et seq.). They have experienced huge losses and remain vulnerable to such impacts as neglect of traditional management, agricultural improvement and global changes in climate, nitrogen depositions and ozone levels. Our understanding of the physiological characteristics of calcicoles and calcifuges remains limited. A detailed understanding of the genetic basis of the mechanisms that enable calcicoles to thrive on calcareous soils is essential to enable us to predict how these plant communities and their constituent species will be affected by environmental change and how the biodiversity of these ecosystems can be sustained.At Lancaster we have been studying calcicole-calcifuge physiology, with particular reference to Ca2+-tolerance, for over fifteen years. Recently, our research has focused on the regulation of apoplastic Ca2+ in Arabidospsis thaliana. We have compared the response of two ecotypes of A. thaliana, the non-calcicole ecotype Columbia (Col-4) and the calcicole ecotype Cal-0, which is a genetically uniform line from an original population collected by Ratcliffe from a rocky limestone slope in 1954, to rhizospheric Ca2+. Our results show that Cal-0, exhibits a markedly higher tolerance to growth on high rhizospheric Ca2+ compared to Col-4.Our hypothesis is that adaptation to a calcareous environment will be reflected in altered gene expression. To test this hypothesis we will grow Col-4 and Cal-0 at low (1 mM) and high (12.5 mM) rhizospheric Ca2+ and compare the patterns of gene expression by microarray analysis. In the first instance, to eliminate any differences in gene expression between the Cal-0 and Col-4 ecotypes, we will compare RNA that will be extracted using the Qiagen RNEasy kits, from plants grown at 16 hour day lengths and will be harvested after 30 days of growth on sand watered with 0.5 X Long Ashton solution containing 1 mM CaCl2. Experimenter name = Bev Abram Experimenter phone = 01524 65201ext93524 Experimenter fax = 01524 843854 Experimenter address = Biological Sciences Experimenter address = Lancaster University Experimenter address = Bailrigg Experimenter address = Lancaster Experimenter zip/postal_code = LA1 4YQ Experimenter country = UK Keywords: strain_or_line_design

Dataset Information

Swimming with predators and pesticides: how environmental stressors affect the thermal physiology of tadpoles.

Publications

Swimming with predators and pesticides: how environmental stressors affect the thermal physiology of tadpoles.

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