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Biology

Biology Publications

Climate Change

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Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Can We Predict Ectotherm Responses To Climate Change Using Thermal Performance Curves And Body Temperatures?, Brent J Sinclair, Katie E Marshall, Mary A Sewell, Danielle L Levesque, Christopher S Willett, Stine Slotsbo, Yunwei Dong, Christopher D G Harley, David J Marshall, Brian S Helmuth, Raymond B Huey Nov 2016

Can We Predict Ectotherm Responses To Climate Change Using Thermal Performance Curves And Body Temperatures?, Brent J Sinclair, Katie E Marshall, Mary A Sewell, Danielle L Levesque, Christopher S Willett, Stine Slotsbo, Yunwei Dong, Christopher D G Harley, David J Marshall, Brian S Helmuth, Raymond B Huey

Biology Publications

Thermal performance curves (TPCs), which quantify how an ectotherm's body temperature (Tb ) affects its performance or fitness, are often used in an attempt to predict organismal responses to climate change. Here, we examine the key - but often biologically unreasonable - assumptions underlying this approach; for example, that physiology and thermal regimes are invariant over ontogeny, space and time, and also that TPCs are independent of previously experienced Tb. We show how a critical consideration of these assumptions can lead to biologically useful hypotheses and experimental designs. For example, rather than assuming that TPCs are fixed during ontogeny, one …


Paradoxical Acclimation Responses In The Thermal Performance Of Insect Immunity., Laura V Ferguson, David E Heinrichs, Brent J Sinclair May 2016

Paradoxical Acclimation Responses In The Thermal Performance Of Insect Immunity., Laura V Ferguson, David E Heinrichs, Brent J Sinclair

Biology Publications

Winter is accompanied by multiple stressors, and the interactions between cold and pathogen stress potentially determine the overwintering success of insects. Thus, it is necessary to explore the thermal performance of the insect immune system. We cold-acclimated spring field crickets, Gryllus veletis, to 6 °C for 7 days and measured the thermal performance of potential (lysozyme and phenoloxidase activity) and realised (bacterial clearance and melanisation) immune responses. Cold acclimation decreased the critical thermal minimum from -0.5 ± 0.25 to -2.1 ± 0.18 °C, and chill coma recovery time after 72 h at -2 °C from 16.8 ± 4.9 to 5.2 …


Paradoxical Acclimation Responses In The Thermal Performance Of Insect Immunity., Laura V Ferguson, David E Heinrichs, Brent J Sinclair May 2016

Paradoxical Acclimation Responses In The Thermal Performance Of Insect Immunity., Laura V Ferguson, David E Heinrichs, Brent J Sinclair

Biology Publications

Winter is accompanied by multiple stressors, and the interactions between cold and pathogen stress potentially determine the overwintering success of insects. Thus, it is necessary to explore the thermal performance of the insect immune system. We cold-acclimated spring field crickets, Gryllus veletis, to 6 °C for 7 days and measured the thermal performance of potential (lysozyme and phenoloxidase activity) and realised (bacterial clearance and melanisation) immune responses. Cold acclimation decreased the critical thermal minimum from -0.5 ± 0.25 to -2.1 ± 0.18 °C, and chill coma recovery time after 72 h at -2 °C from 16.8 ± 4.9 to 5.2 …


Insects In Fluctuating Thermal Environments., Hervé Colinet, Brent J Sinclair, Philippe Vernon, David Renault Jan 2015

Insects In Fluctuating Thermal Environments., Hervé Colinet, Brent J Sinclair, Philippe Vernon, David Renault

Biology Publications

All climate change scenarios predict an increase in both global temperature means and the magnitude of seasonal and diel temperature variation. The nonlinear relationship between temperature and biological processes means that fluctuating temperatures lead to physiological, life history, and ecological consequences for ectothermic insects that diverge from those predicted from constant temperatures. Fluctuating temperatures that remain within permissive temperature ranges generally improve performance. By contrast, those which extend to stressful temperatures may have either positive impacts, allowing repair of damage accrued during exposure to thermal extremes, or negative impacts from cumulative damage during successive exposures. We discuss the mechanisms underlying …