Developmental constraints in cave beetles

Cieslak, Alexandra; Fresneda, Javier; Ribera, Ignacio

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0712

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Leptodirini cave beetles (Coleoptera, Leiodidae), one of the most extreme modifications associated with underground colonization is a reduction in the number of larval instars in the life cycle, likely as an adaptation to a resource‐poor environment (Cieslak, Fresneda, & Ribera, 2014a, b). Species that can live in deep forest litter or the upper layers of fractured soil (MSS, Milieu Souterrain Superficiel (Juberthie, Delay, & Bouillon, 1980a, b, Juberthie, Delay, & Bouillon, 1981; Mammola et al ., 2016)), that is, not necessarily confined in caves, typically have the standard life cycle of Coleoptera, with three larval instars (Minelli & Fusco, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of heat acclimation capacity could leave subterranean specialists highly sensitive to climate change

Pallarés

Colado

Botella‐Cruz

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physiological traits are key in determining the vulnerability of narrow range, highly specialized animals to climate change. It is generally predicted that species from more stable environments possess lower thermal tolerance breadths and thermal plasticity than those from more variable habitats – the so‐called ‘climatic variability hypothesis’. However, evolutionary trade‐offs between thermal breadth and its plasticity are also seen in some taxa, and the evolution of thermal physiology remains poorly understood. Subterranean environments are excellent systems for exploring these issues, being characterized by stable climatic conditions, with environmental variability increasing predictably from deep to shallow habitats. Acclimation capacity will be fundamental in determining the sensitivity of subterranean species to climate change, since they have poor dispersal capacity and limited possibility to exploit thermally different microhabitats in the uniform cave environment. We assessed critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and short‐term heat acclimation capacity in three related beetles (Leiodidae: Leptodirini) with differing degrees of specialization to the subterranean environment (deep, shallow and facultatively subterranean, respectively) and therefore exposed to contrasting thermal variability in nature. Only the facultative subterranean species showed any acclimatory capacity, also having the highest CTmax across the taxa studied. However, this species might experience the highest thermal stress in its habitat under climate change. The studied subterranean specialists will be poorly able to cope physiologically with temperature increase, but in contrast exposed to lower magnitude and rate of warming. Our results fit the climatic variability hypothesis, suggesting that adaptation to cave conditions has selected against the retention of acclimation mechanisms. We show that the pathways that determine vulnerability of subterranean species to climate change depend on their degree of specialization to deep subterranean environments. This information, combined with evaluation of exposure to climatic changes at their present locations, is fundamental in identifying species or populations at greatest risk.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of heat acclimation capacity could leave subterranean specialists highly sensitive to climate change

Pallarés

Colado

Botella‐Cruz

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Molecular techniques have become a crucial tool to overcome this problem and to efficiently reveal phylogenetic relationships among different taxonomic categories. They have been recently involved in elucidating the phylogeny of different groups with subterranean representatives such as Bivalvia (Stepien et al, 2001), Dytiscidae (Leys et al, 2003), Decapoda (Zakšek et al, 2007), Parabathynellidae (Abrams et al, 2012), Trechini (Faille et al, 2009; and Leptodirini (Caccone and Sbordoni, 2001;Ribera et al, 2010;Fresneda et al, 2011;Cieslak et al, 2014a;2014b). Molecular techniques have helped in distinguishing morphological characters inherited from a common ancestor from those resulting from recent, independent adaptation to a specific biotope.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cave beetle genus Anthroherpon is polyphyletic; molecular phylogenetics and description of Graciliella n. gen. (Leiodidae, Leptodirini)

Njunji

Perreau

Hendriks

et al. 2016

CTOZ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The subtribe Anthroherponina form an iconic group of obligate cave beetles, typical representatives of the Dinaric subterranean fauna, which is considered to be the richest in the world. Phylogenetic studies within this subtribe are scarce and based only on morphological characters, which, due to troglomorphic convergence, are frequently unreliable. Moreover, morphological stasis and morphological polymorphism make classification of taxa difficult. To test if characters that have traditionally been accepted as informative for Anthroherponina classification are indeed reliable, we evaluated the monophyly of the most speciesrich genus of this subtribe -Anthroherpon Reitter, 1889. Our study, based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis of fragments of the 18S, 28S, and COI (both 5' and 3' end) loci revealed that the genus Anthroherpon as conventionally defined is polyphyletic. To resolve this polyphyly, we defined one new additional genus, Graciliella n. gen., for which we then examined the intrageneric diversity using molecular and morphometric approaches. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of two COI mitochondrial gene fragments revealed the presence of four species inside Graciliella n. gen., including two new species, which we here describe as G. kosovaci n. sp. and G. ozimeci n. sp. To analyze interspecific morphological differences within Graciliella we performed a discriminant analysis based on 40 linear morphometric measurements. The results showed that differences between species and subspecies inside Graciliella, however subtle they may seem, are measurable and reproducible. All species of the genus are briefly diagnosed, an identification key is proposed and a distribution map of all taxa of Graciliella is provided.

show abstract

“…We also used the number of larval instars of the life cycle. In Leptodirini, a reduction in the number of larval instars from three (in facultative subterranean species) to two or one (in shallow or deep subterranean specialists, respectively) is one of the life cycle modifications associated with subterranean colonization (Cieslak et al, 2014a(Cieslak et al, , 2014b. We assigned a continuous value of each of these traits to each species, except from the number of instars, which was included only for those species whose life cycle has been experimentally studied (i.e., Bathysciola mystica, Machaeroscelis infernus, Speonomus curvipes, and Speonomus longicornis) (Appendix S1: Table S2).…”

Section: Characterization Of the Degree Of Specialization To The Subt...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic stability, not average habitat temperature, determines thermal tolerance of subterranean beetles

Colado

Pallarés

Fresneda

et al. 2022

Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The climatic variability hypothesis predicts the evolution of species with wide thermal tolerance ranges in environments with variable temperatures, and the evolution of thermal specialists in thermally stable environments. In caves, the extent of spatial and temporal thermal variability experienced by taxa decreases with their degree of specialization to deep subterranean habitats. We use phylogenetic generalized least squares to model the relationship among thermal tolerance (upper lethal limits), subterranean specialization (estimated using ecomorphological traits), and habitat temperature in 16 beetle species of the tribe Leptodirini (Leiodidae). We found a significant, negative relationship between thermal tolerance and the degree of subterranean specialization. Conversely, habitat temperature had only a marginal effect on lethal limits. In agreement with the climatic variability hypothesis and under a climate change context, we show that the specialization process to live in deep subterranean habitats involves a reduction of upper lethal limits, but not an adjustment to habitat temperature. Thermal variability seems to exert a higher evolutionary pressure than mean habitat temperature to configure the thermal niche of subterranean species. Our results provide novel insights on thermal physiology of species with poor dispersal capabilities and on the evolutionary process of adaptation to subterranean environments. We further emphasize that the pathways determining vulnerability of subterranean species to climate change greatly depend on the degree of specialization to deep subterranean environments.

show abstract

Developmental constraints in cave beetles

Cited by 11 publications

References 11 publications

Loss of heat acclimation capacity could leave subterranean specialists highly sensitive to climate change

Loss of heat acclimation capacity could leave subterranean specialists highly sensitive to climate change

The cave beetle genus Anthroherpon is polyphyletic; molecular phylogenetics and description of Graciliella n. gen. (Leiodidae, Leptodirini)

Climatic stability, not average habitat temperature, determines thermal tolerance of subterranean beetles

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About