Maladaptive plasticity facilitates evolution of thermal tolerance during an experimental range shift.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many organisms are responding to climate change with dramatic range shifts, involving plastic and genetic changes to cope with novel climate regimes found at higher latitudes. Using experimental lineages of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, we simulated the initial phase of colonisation to progressively cooler and/or more variable conditions, to investigate how adaptation and phenotypic plasticity contribute to shifts in thermal tolerance during colonisation of novel climates.

Results

We show that heat and cold tolerance rapidly evolve during the initial stages of adaptation to progressively cooler and more variable climates. The evolved shift in cold tolerance is, however, associated with maladaptive plasticity under the novel conditions, resulting in a p

SUBMITTER: Leonard AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7181507 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature