Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting The Physiological Performance Of Ectotherms In Fluctuating Thermal Environments, Michael W. Sears, A C. Niehaus, M J. Angilletta, C E. Franklin, R S. Wilson

Publications

Physiological ecologists have long sought to understand the plasticity of organisms in environments that vary widely among years, seasons and even hours. This is now even more important because human-induced climate change is predicted to affect both the mean and variability of the thermal environment. Although environmental change occurs ubiquitously, relatively few researchers have studied the effects of fluctuating environments on the performance of developing organisms. Even fewer have tried to validate a framework for predicting performance in fluctuating environments. Here, we determined whether reaction norms based on performance at constant temperatures (18, 22, 26, 30 and 34°C) could be …