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opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

Biogeographic parallels in thermal tolerance and gene expression variation under temperature stress in a widespread bumble bee

Global temperature changes have emphasized the need to understand how species adapt to thermal stress across their ranges. Genetic mechanisms may contribute to variation in thermal tolerance, providing evidence for how organisms adapt to local environments. We determine physiological thermal limits and characterize genome-wide transcriptional changes at these limits in bumble bees using laboratory-reared Bombus vosnesenskii workers. We analyze bees reared from latitudinal (35.7–45.7°N) and altitudinal (7–2154 m) extremes of the species' range to correlate thermal tolerance and gene expression among populations from different climates. We find that critical thermal minima (CTMIN) exhibit strong associations with local minimums at the location of queen origin, while critical thermal maximum (CTMAX) was invariant among populations. Concordant patterns are apparent in gene expression data, with regional differentiation following cold exposure, and expression shifts invariant among populations under high temperatures. Furthermore, we identify several modules of co-expressed genes that tightly correlate with critical thermal limits and temperature at the region of origin. Our results reveal that local adaptation in thermal limits and gene expression may facilitate cold tolerance across a species range, whereas high temperature responses are likely constrained, both of which may have implications for climate change responses of bumble bees.

opencc-zeroMar 2024View details →

Data from: Stingless bee foragers experience more thermally stressful microclimates but have wider thermal tolerance breadths than other worker subcastes

The current state of anthropogenic climate change is of particular concern for insects, especially in the tropics where the effects are predicted to be the most deleterious. Researching climatic tolerance in social insects is challenging because adaptations can exist at both an individual level and a societal level. However, these studies are important because social insects comprise a tremendous portion of the planet's animal biomass, biodiversity, and include many important pollinators. Considering how individual physiologies construct group-level adaptations can improve the accuracy of climate change impact assessments for a variety of social species. Tetragonisca angustula is a neotropical stingless bee species known to exhibit particularly high worker subcaste specialization in the form of a morphologically distinct soldier caste, a trait most commonly found and studied in ants and termites. We used this model species to investigate 1) whether age- and size-differentiated task groups differ in thermal tolerance, 2) which worker subcastes operate closest to their thermal limits, and 3) the extent to which behavioral thermoregulation via shifting active foraging times can offset thermal stress in this species. We measured the thermal tolerance (CTmax and CTmin) of smaller-bodied foragers, and two soldier sub-castes (hovering guards and standing guards) in T. angustula. Despite the difference in body size between the foragers and guards, no differences in the upper or lower thermal limits were observed. However, the average thermal tolerance breadth of foragers was significantly larger than that of guards, indicating that soldiers at the nest entrance are more thermally specialized than foragers. Temperatures at foraging sites were more variable than at nest entrances, which caused warming tolerance to be significantly lower among small-bodied foragers as compared to either hovering guards or standing guards. The magnitude of warming tolerances indicated a low risk of imminent climate change impacts in this environment, but our results suggest that as temperatures increase, foragers are likely to meet their upper thermal limits before other worker subcastes. Foragers may shift the times they are active as a form of thermoregulation which could selectively impact pollination rates for plants leading to repercussions on agriculture and ecosystem functioning. This work establishes novel approaches to predicting climatic change risk in heterogeneous cooperative societies.

opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Data from: Corals that survive repeated thermal stress show signs of selection and acclimatization

Climate change is transforming coral reefs by increasing the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves, often leading to coral bleaching and mortality. Coral communities have demonstrated modest increases in thermal tolerance following repeated exposure to moderate heat stress, but it is unclear whether these shifts represent acclimatization of individual colonies or mortality of thermally susceptible individuals. For corals that survive repeated bleaching events, it is important to understand how past bleaching responses impact future growth potential. Here, we track the bleaching responses of 1,832 corals in leeward Maui through multiple marine heatwaves and document patterns of coral growth and survivorship over a seven-year period. While we find limited evidence of acclimatization at population scales, we document reduced bleaching over time in specific individuals, primarily in the stress-tolerant taxa Porites lobata, indicative of acclimatization. For corals that survived both bleaching events, we find no relationship between bleaching response and coral growth in three of four taxa studied. This decoupling between bleaching and growth suggests that coral survivorship is a better indicator of future growth than is a coral's bleaching history. Based on these results, we recommend restoration practitioners in Hawaiʻi obtain outplants from Porites and Montipora colonies with a proven track-record of growth and survivorship, rather than devote resources toward identifying and cultivating bleaching-resistant phenotypes. Survivorship followed a latitudinal thermal stress gradient, but because this gradient was small, it is likely that local environmental factors also drove differences in coral performance between sites. Efforts to reduce human impacts at low performing sites would likely improve coral survivorship in the future.

Fig. 1 in The Influence Of Thermal Preadaptation On Some Oxidative Processes In The First Leaves Of Wheat Seedlings (Triticum Aestivum L.) Under Heat Stress

Fig. 1. The rate of superoxide (O2˙ˉ) production (µmol/h) in the etiolated first leaves at the early (from 4th to 5th days) and late (from 7th to 8th days) stages of seedlings development.

Fig. 2 in The Influence Of Thermal Preadaptation On Some Oxidative Processes In The First Leaves Of Wheat Seedlings (Triticum Aestivum L.) Under Heat Stress

Fig. 2. Catalase activity in the etiolated first leaves at the early (from 4th to 5th days) and late (from 7th to 8th days) stages of seedling development.

Fig. 4 in The Influence Of Thermal Preadaptation On Some Oxidative Processes In The First Leaves Of Wheat Seedlings (Triticum Aestivum L.) Under Heat Stress

Fig. 4. Catalase activity in the etiolated first leaves at the (A) early (from 4th to 5th days) and (B) late (from 7th to 8th days) stages of seedling development (C ‒ control 26oC; E ‒ 26oC → 32oC; E1 ‒ 32o→42oC; E2 ‒ 26oC → 42oC).

Fig. 3 in The Influence Of Thermal Preadaptation On Some Oxidative Processes In The First Leaves Of Wheat Seedlings (Triticum Aestivum L.) Under Heat Stress

Fig. 3. The rate of superoxide (O2˙ˉ) production (µmol/h) in the etiolated first leaves at the (A) early (from 4th to 5th days) and (B) late (from 7th to 8th days) stages of seedlings development (C ‒ control 26oC; E ‒ 26oC → 32oC; E1 ‒ 32o→42oC; E2 ‒ 26oC → 42oC).

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2018View details →

The effects of environmental history and thermal stress on coral physiology and immunity

This dataset has all data for the manuscript (Wall CB,  CA Ricci, GE Foulds, LD Mydlarz, RD Gates, HM Putnam (2018) The effects of environmental history and thermal stress on coral physiology and immunity. Marine Biology). Data included a zipped archive shape file for creating Kāne'ohe Bay map, physical data (light and temperature) from Kāne'ohe Bay and laboratory experiments, pCO2 data for Kāne'ohe Bay reef sites dowloaded from NOAA PMEL, and biological responses (PAM fluorometry, physiology, immune activity and oxidative profile).