Cold truths: how winter drives responses of terrestrial organisms to climate change

Williams, Carroll M.; Henry, Hugh A. L.; Sinclair, Brent J.

doi:10.1111/brv.12105

Cited by 537 publications

(547 citation statements)

References 209 publications

(298 reference statements)

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“…Cold exposure can cause mortality of small passerines in winter, even in conditions that are relatively mild [17,22,44]. For example, prolonged exposure to cold wet weather with daily minima less than 58C was associated with high mortality in a range of similar-sized passerine species in Britain [23].…”

Section: Direct Effects Of Climate On Survivalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As for hot extremes, how endotherms deal with cold is also expected to be affected by body size. Larger body size may confer thermal benefits in cold conditions both by reducing heat loss (via reduced surface area to volume ratios) and by increasing capacity to carry more fat reserves, thereby increasing resistance to starvation [17,20]. Thus, large body sizes may be beneficial during cold ECEs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of extreme weather on two sympatric Australian passerine bird species

Gardner

Rowley

Rebeira³

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 14 to a theme issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. Despite abundant evidence that natural populations are responding to climate change, there are few demonstrations of how extreme climatic events (ECEs) affect fitness. Climate warming increases adverse effects of exposure to high temperatures, but also reduces exposure to cold ECEs. Here, we investigate variation in survival associated with severity of summer and winter conditions, and whether survival is better predicted by ECEs than mean temperatures using data from two coexisting bird species monitored over 37 years in southwestern Australia, red-winged fairy-wrens, Malurus elegans and white-browed scrubwrens, Sericornis frontalis. Changes in survival were associated with temperature extremes more strongly than average temperatures. In scrubwrens, winter ECEs were associated with survival within the same season. In both species, survival was associated with body size, and there was evidence that size-dependent mortality was mediated by carry-over effects of climate in the previous season. For fairy-wrens, mean body size declined over time but this could not be explained by size-dependent mortality as the effects of body size on survival were consistently positive. Our study demonstrates how ECEs can have individual-level effects on survival that are not reflected in long-term morphological change, and the same climatic conditions can affect similar-sized, coexisting species in different ways.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'.

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Section: Direct Effects Of Climate On Survivalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of extreme weather on two sympatric Australian passerine bird species

Gardner

Rowley

Rebeira³

et al. 2017

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…In temperate, polar and montane habitats, the majority of insects spend a large proportion of their life in an overwintering stage, and must survive the low temperatures and accompanying environmental stressors that are associated with winter (Leather et al, 1993;Williams et al, 2015). Similarly, insects in deserts and tropical high mountains can also be regularly exposed to potentially-lethal freezing conditions (Sømme, 1995;Sømme et al, 1996;Sømme and Zachariassen, 1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An invitation to measure insect cold tolerance: Methods, approaches, and workflow

Sinclair

Alvarado

Ferguson

2015

Journal of Thermal Biology

Self Cite

312

326

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Insect performance is limited by the temperature of the environment, and in temperate, polar, and alpine regions, the majority of insects must face the challenge of exposure to low temperatures. The physiological response to cold exposure shapes the ability of insects to survive and thrive in these environments, and can be measured, without great technical difficulty, for both basic and applied research. For example, understanding insect cold tolerance allows us to predict the establishment and spread of insect pests and biological control agents. Additionally, the discipline provides the tools for drawing physiological comparisons among groups in wider studies that may not be focused primarily on the ability of insects to survive the cold. Thus, the study of insect cold tolerance is of a broad interest, and several reviews have addressed the theories and advances in the field. Here, however, we aim to clarify and provide rationale for common practices used to study cold tolerance, as a starter's guide for newcomers to the field, students, and those wishing to incorporate cold tolerance into a broader study. We cover the 'tried and true' measures of insect cold tolerance, the equipment necessary for these measurement, and summarize the ecological and biological significance of each. Additionally, we provide a suggested framework and workflow for measuring cold tolerance and low temperature performance in insects.

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“…2013; Williams et al. 2015b). Here, we study the effect of winter duration on aspects of post‐winter development of four latitudinally separate populations of Anthocharis cardamines (orange tip butterfly) (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of winter cold duration on spring phenology of the orange tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines

Stålhandske

Lehmann

Pruisscher

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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The effect of spring temperature on spring phenology is well understood in a wide range of taxa. However, studies on how winter conditions may affect spring phenology are underrepresented. Previous work on Anthocharis cardamines (orange tip butterfly) has shown population‐specific reaction norms of spring development in relation to spring temperature and a speeding up of post‐winter development with longer winter durations. In this experiment, we examined the effects of a greater and ecologically relevant range of winter durations on post‐winter pupal development of A. cardamines of two populations from the United Kingdom and two from Sweden. By analyzing pupal weight loss and metabolic rate, we were able to separate the overall post‐winter pupal development into diapause duration and post‐diapause development. We found differences in the duration of cold needed to break diapause among populations, with the southern UK population requiring a shorter duration than the other populations. We also found that the overall post‐winter pupal development time, following removal from winter cold, was negatively related to cold duration, through a combined effect of cold duration on diapause duration and on post‐diapause development time. Longer cold durations also lead to higher population synchrony in hatching. For current winter durations in the field, the A. cardamines population of southern UK could have a reduced development rate and lower synchrony in emergence because of short winters. With future climate change, this might become an issue also for other populations. Differences in winter conditions in the field among these four populations are large enough to have driven local adaptation of characteristics controlling spring phenology in response to winter duration. The observed phenology of these populations depends on a combination of winter and spring temperatures; thus, both must be taken into account for accurate predictions of phenology.

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Cold truths: how winter drives responses of terrestrial organisms to climate change

Cited by 537 publications

References 209 publications

Effects of extreme weather on two sympatric Australian passerine bird species

Effects of extreme weather on two sympatric Australian passerine bird species

An invitation to measure insect cold tolerance: Methods, approaches, and workflow

Effect of winter cold duration on spring phenology of the orange tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines

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