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Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species

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A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 20556

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Dr. Andreas Walzer

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Institute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Interests: biological control of pest species; acarology; arthropod ecology and behavior; climate change and pest control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ectothermic species constitute the vast majority of global biodiversity, but they are likely to be vulnerable to temperature increases caused by climate warming because of their limited thermoregulation abilities. Increased mean temperatures mean more mild winter periods, elongated vegetation periods, and more frequent heat waves and dry periods for ectotherms, which may respond through acclimation, adaptation, dispersal, and behavioral plasticity to cope with climate warming. The aim of this Special Issue is to complement our knowledge and deepen our understanding of the responses of ectotherms to thermal shifts caused by climate warming. Documenting shifts in phenology, behavior, life history traits, and their consequences at the population level will be critical for understanding how ectotherms will adapt, or not, to temperature increase.

Temperatures have increased in the last few decades due to climate warming at a global scale, which has resulted in milder winter periods, elongated vegetation periods, and more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves and dry periods. Continuing climate warming poses a great challenge for ectotherms with their restricted thermoregulation because their vital functions are strongly dependent on ambient temperature conditions. In fact, the impact of ongoing temperature increase is likely to impact on all levels of the biological organization of ectotherms, from the genome, biochemical and physiological functions, organism performance, and species interactions to the maintenance of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Ectotherms may respond to changing thermal conditions via acclimation, adaptation, dispersal, and behavioral plasticity, which can mitigate the adverse impacts of climate warming. Such thermally induced changes in ectotherms may avoid demographic reductions or even extinction. These adaptations can result in modifications of vital processes such as survival, growth, development, mating, reproduction, and locomotion, and their consequences may also affect ectotherms at population and community levels.

The goal of this Special Issue is to complement our knowledge and deepen our understanding of the responses of ectotherms to thermal shifts caused by climate warming. Documenting shifts in phenology, behavior, life history traits, and their consequences at the population level will be critical for understanding how ectotherms will adapt, or not, to temperature increase.

This Special Issue will include reviews and research articles focusing on the topic “Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species”. Please send the abstract of your paper prior to submission to ensure that your work falls within the scope of this Special Issue. I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Andreas Walzer
Guest Editor

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Keywords

biodiversity
climate warming
ectothermic species
geographic ranges
heat waves
evolutionary adaptations
phenotypic plasticity
species interactions
thermal acclimation

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 6206 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Preconditioning Alters the Stability of Hump-Snout Whitefish (Coregonus fluviatilis) and Its Hybrid Form, Showing Potential for Aquaculture

by Yulia P. Sapozhnikova, Anastasia G. Koroleva, Vera M. Yakhnenko, Aleksandra A. Volkova, Tatyana N. Avezova, Olga Yu. Glyzina, Mariya V. Sakirko, Lyubov I. Tolstikova and Lyubov V. Sukhanova

Biology 2023, 12(10), 1348; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12101348 - 20 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2203

Abstract

One of the little-studied ways that climate warming or temperature increases in aquaculture could affect aquatic animals is through accelerated aging. This study is dedicated to understanding the principles of molecular and cellular aging in the target tissues of juvenile whitefishes (Yenisei hump-snout whitefish and its hybrid) under the influence of acute heat stress (up to 26 °C), and the effects of thermal preconditioning as pre-adaptation. Non-adapted stressed hump-snout whitefish showed a higher induction threshold for functionally active mitochondria in the blood and a decrease in telomerase activity in the liver after heat shock exposure as a long-term compensatory response to prevent telomere shortening. However, we observed heat-induced telomere shortening in non-adapted hybrids, which can be explained by a decrease in mitochondrial membrane stability and a gradual increase in energy demand, leading to a decrease in protective telomerase activity. The pre-adapted groups of hump-snout whitefish and hybrids showed a long-term or delayed response of telomerase activity to heat shock, which served as a therapeutic mechanism against telomere shortening. We concluded that the telomerase and telomere responses to thermal stress demonstrate plasticity of tolerance limits and greater stability in hump-snout whitefish compared with hybrids. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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22 pages, 9464 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reproducing during Heat Waves: Influence of Juvenile and Adult Environment on Fecundity of a Pest Mite and Its Predator

by Thomas Tscholl, Gösta Nachman, Bernhard Spangl, Hanna Charlotte Serve and Andreas Walzer

Biology 2023, 12(4), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12040554 - 5 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2119

Abstract

The thermal history of arthropod predators and their prey may affect their reproductive performance during heat waves. Thus, a matching juvenile and adult environment should be beneficial as it enables the individuals to acclimate to extreme conditions. Prey fecundity, however, is also affected by a second stressor, namely predation risk. Here, we assessed the impact of extreme and mild heat waves on the reproductive output of acclimated (juvenile and adult heat wave conditions are matching) and non-acclimated females of the biocontrol agent Phytoseiulus persimilis, a predatory mite, and its herbivorous prey, the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae, on bean leaves. Their escape and oviposition rates and egg sizes were recorded over 10 days. Additionally, ovipositing prey females were exposed to predator cues and heat waves. Acclimation changed the escape rates and egg sizes of both species, whereas fecundity was only influenced by the adult thermal environment via increased egg numbers under extreme heat waves. Acclimation reduced predator and prey escape rates, which were higher for the predator. Pooled over acclimation, both species deposited more but smaller eggs under extreme heat waves. Acclimation dampened this effect in prey eggs, whereas acclimation resulted in smaller female eggs of the predator. Prey deposited larger male and female eggs. Predator cues reduced prey oviposition, but the effect was small compared to the large increase gained under extreme heat waves. We argue that the success of predators in controlling spider mites during heat waves mainly depends on the fates of escaping predators. A permanent absence of predators may result in the numerical dominance of prey. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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22 pages, 24917 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Community Composition and Functional Traits of Bumblebees in an Alpine Ecosystem Relate to Climate Warming

by Victor Sebastian Scharnhorst, Katharina Thierolf, Johann Neumayer, Benedikt Becsi, Herbert Formayer, Julia Lanner, Esther Ockermüller, Alina Mirwald, Barbara König, Monika Kriechbaum, Harald Meimberg, Philipp Meyer, Christina Rupprecht and Bärbel Pachinger

Biology 2023, 12(2), 316; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12020316 - 16 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2740

Abstract

Climate warming has been observed as the main cause of changes in diversity, community composition, and spatial distribution of different plant and invertebrate species. Due to even stronger warming compared to the global mean, bumblebees in alpine ecosystems are particularly exposed to these changes. To investigate the effects of climate warming, we sampled bumblebees along an elevational gradient, compared the records with data from 1935 and 1936, and related our results to climate models. We found that bumblebee community composition differed significantly between sampling periods and that increasing temperatures in spring were the most plausible factor explaining these range shifts. In addition, species diversity estimates were significantly lower compared to historical records. The number of socio-parasitic species was significantly higher in the historical communities, while recent communities showed increases in climate generalists and forest species at lower elevations. Nevertheless, no significant changes in community-weighted means of a species temperature index (STI) or the number of cold-adapted species were detected, likely due to the historical data resolution. We conclude that the composition and functionality of bumblebee communities in the study area have been significantly affected by climate warming, with changes in land use and vegetation cover likely playing an additional important role. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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15 pages, 3444 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intra-Population Alteration on Voltinism of Asian Corn Borer in Response to Climate Warming

by Kaiqiang Liu, Zhenying Wang, Tiantao Zhang and Kanglai He

Biology 2023, 12(2), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12020187 - 26 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2123

Abstract

The Asian corn borer (ACB) Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée) can occur in one to seven generations annually from cool (48°00′ N) to warm (18°10′ N) region of corn cultivation in China. Although ACB is commonly known as a facultative larval diapause insect, the co-existence of various voltinism suggests that intra-population variation may have evolved for the nature of diapause, i.e., voltinism plasticity. Here, we conducted recurrent selection efforts to establish three strains of, respectively, univoltine (with obligate diapause), multivoltine (with facultative diapause), and non-diapausing ACB under various temperature and photoperiod environments. The univoltine (Lu) strain has evolved a stable univoltinism under a diapause suppressing condition (16 h daylength at 28 °C), with the diapause incidence constantly over 80% after three generations of selection. The multivoltine strain (Lm) under the high temperature (28 °C) was shown to have a typical facultative diapause induced by a range of short-day lengths (11–13.5 h). Diapause incidence was constantly <2.6% under the long day length (16 h) when the temperature was from 18 to 28 °C, i.e., low temperature could not enhance the diapause response in the Lm strain. However, the development was prolonged from 14.2 ± 0.3 d to 46.0 ± 0.8 d when the temperature was reduced from 28 °C to 18 °C. The majority (94.4%) of the developed Ln strain still maintained the non-diapausing nature under a diapause enhancing condition, i.e., a short (13 h) daylength at a low temperature (22 °C). Lm and Ln were able to complete their second generation in Heihe (50°14′ N) if the first-generation moth oviposits before 18 June. The study suggests that ACB has evolutionary intra-population variation in voltinism. Under the climate change scenario warmer spring and summer might affect the proportion of sympatric voltine biotype populations that evolve toward being multivoltine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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11 pages, 509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Consequences of Oviposition Site Choice for Geckos in Changing Environments

by Theja Abayarathna and Jonathan K. Webb

Biology 2022, 11(9), 1281; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11091281 - 29 Aug 2022

Viewed by 1910

Abstract

Most lizards lay eggs inside nests where embryos experience daily fluctuations in temperature. As embryos are sensitive to exposure to high temperatures, increases in nest temperatures may pose a risk to lizards. In the velvet gecko Amalosia lesueurii, nest temperatures are positively correlated with air temperatures, so nests may get hotter in future. However, maternal variation in oviposition site choice might buffer populations from future warming. To evaluate the consequences of oviposition site choice, we incubated eggs under two fluctuating temperature regimes that mimicked temperatures experienced inside sun-exposed (“warm”: mean = 25.4 °C; range = 16.5–35.5 °C) and shaded (“cold”: mean = 23.3 °C; 17.5–30.5 °C) communal nests. We measured the phenotypic traits of hatchlings, released them to the wild, and monitored their survival over 6 months. Warm-incubated hatchlings hatched 15 days earlier, on average, and were smaller than their cold-incubated clutch mates. Incubation treatment did not influence the apparent survival of hatchlings. Hence, even if air temperatures increase by 2 °C in future, thermal regimes inside some currently used shaded nests will be suitable for embryo development. Maternal variation in nest site choice may therefore allow southern populations of the velvet gecko to persist in changing environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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20 pages, 4680 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Trans- and Within-Generational Developmental Plasticity May Benefit the Prey but Not Its Predator during Heat Waves

by Andreas Walzer, Gösta Nachman, Bernhard Spangl, Miroslava Stijak and Thomas Tscholl

Biology 2022, 11(8), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11081123 - 27 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2615

Abstract

Theoretically, parents can adjust vital offspring traits to the irregular and rapid occurrence of heat waves via developmental plasticity. However, the direction and strength of such trait modifications are often species-specific. Here, we investigated within-generational plasticity (WGP) and trans-generational plasticity (TGP) effects induced by heat waves during the offspring development of the predator Phytoseiulus persimilis and its herbivorous prey, the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, to assess plastic developmental modifications. Single offspring individuals with different parental thermal origin (reared under mild or extreme heat waves) of both species were exposed to mild or extreme heat waves until adulthood, and food consumption, age and size at maturity were recorded. The offspring traits were influenced by within-generational plasticity (WGP), trans-generational plasticity (TGP), non-plastic trans-generational effects (TGE) and/or their interactions. When exposed to extreme heat waves, both species speeded up development (exclusively WGP), consumed more (due to the fact of WGP but also to TGP in prey females and to non-plastic TGE in predator males), and predator females got smaller (non-plastic TGE and WGP), whereas prey males and females were equally sized irrespective of their origin, because TGE, WGP and TGP acted in opposite directions. The body sizes of predator males were insensitive to parental and offspring heat wave conditions. Species comparisons indicated stronger reductions in the developmental time and reduced female predator-prey body size ratios in favor of the prey under extreme heat waves. Further investigations are needed to evaluate, whether trait modifications result in lowered suppression success of the predator on its prey under heat waves or not. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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Review

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16 pages, 3246 KiB

Open AccessReview

Climate Change, Extreme Temperatures and Sex-Related Responses in Spiders

by Jeffrey A. Harvey and Yuting Dong

Biology 2023, 12(4), 615; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12040615 - 18 Apr 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3583

Abstract

Climatic extremes, such as heat waves, are increasing in frequency, intensity and duration under anthropogenic climate change. These extreme events pose a great threat to many organisms, and especially ectotherms, which are susceptible to high temperatures. In nature, many ectotherms, such as insects, may seek cooler microclimates and ’ride out´ extreme temperatures, especially when these are transient and unpredictable. However, some ectotherms, such as web-building spiders, may be more prone to heat-related mortality than more motile organisms. Adult females in many spider families are sedentary and build webs in micro-habitats where they spend their entire lives. Under extreme heat, they may be limited in their ability to move vertically or horizontally to find cooler microhabitats. Males, on the other hand, are often nomadic, have broader spatial distributions, and thus might be better able to escape exposure to heat. However, life-history traits in spiders such as the relative body size of males and females and spatial ecology also vary across different taxonomic groups based on their phylogeny. This may make different species or families more or less susceptible to heat waves and exposure to very high temperatures. Selection to extreme temperatures may drive adaptive responses in female physiology, morphology or web site selection in species that build small or exposed webs. Male spiders may be better able to avoid heat-related stress than females by seeking refuge under objects such as bark or rocks with cooler microclimates. Here, we discuss these aspects in detail and propose research focusing on male and female spider behavior and reproduction across different taxa exposed to temperature extremes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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Other

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10 pages, 899 KiB

Open AccessCommentary

Quantification of Thermal Acclimation in Immune Functions in Ectothermic Animals

by Franziska C. Sandmeier

Biology 2024, 13(3), 179; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13030179 - 9 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1597

Abstract

This short review focuses on current experimental designs to quantify immune acclimation in animals. Especially in the face of rapidly changing thermal regimes, thermal acclimation of immune function has the potential to impact host–pathogen relationships and the fitness of hosts. While much of the field of ecoimmunology has focused on vertebrates and insects, broad interest in how animals can acclimate to temperatures spans taxa. The literature shows a recent increase in thermal acclimation studies in the past six years. I categorized studies as focusing on (1) natural thermal variation in the environment (e.g., seasonal), (2) in vivo manipulation of animals in captive conditions, and (3) in vitro assays using biological samples taken from wild or captive animals. I detail the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, with an emphasis on mechanisms of acclimation at different levels of organization (organismal and cellular). These two mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, and a greater combination of the three techniques listed above will increase our knowledge of the diversity of mechanisms used by animals to acclimate to changing thermal regimes. Finally, I suggest that functional assays of immune system cells (such as quantification of phagocytosis) are an accessible and non-taxa-specific way to tease apart the effects of animals upregulating quantities of immune effectors (cells) and changes in the function of immune effectors (cellular performance) due to structural changes in cells such as those of membranes and enzymes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coping with Temperature Increase Induced by Climate Warming: Trends in Ectothermic Species)

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