Macrophysiology for a changing world

Abstract

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) has identified climate change, habitat destruction, invasive species, overexploitation and pollution as the major drivers of biodiversity loss and sources of concern for human well-being. Understanding how these drivers operate and interact and how they might be mitigated are among the most pressing questions facing humanity. Here, we show how macrophysiology-the investigation of variation in physiological traits over large geographical, temporal and phylogenetic scalescan contribute significantly to answering these questions. We do so by demonstrating, for each of the MA drivers, how a macrophysiological approach can or has helped elucidate the impacts of these drivers and their interactions. Moreover, we illustrate that a large-scale physiological perspective can provide insights into previously unrecognized threats to diversity, such as the erosion of physiological variation and stress tolerance, which are a consequence of the removal of large species and individuals from the biosphere. In so doing we demonstrate that environmental physiologists have much to offer the scientific quest to resolve major environmental problems.

Physiological Stress Responses in Amphibian Larvae to Multiple Stressors Reveal Marked Anthropogenic Effects even below Lethal Levels

“…Among the parameters used, CORT and GR were the most sensitive to environmental stress in our study, although a combined approach determining several other physiological parameters such as metabolic rate or leukocyte profile provides a more comprehensive assessment of the physiological responses. Systematic comparisons of physiological alterations against multiple factors and factor combinations will fuel larger-scale comparative physiology, providing mechanistic insights into conservation, ecological, and evolutionary studies and contributing to explaining large geographical and temporal patterns (Chown and Gaston 2015). Moreover, stress experienced during early life stages and high levels of GCs in particular have long-lasting effects (Weaver 2009;Wu et al 2012).…”

“…Therefore, long-term studies are needed to fully understand the consequences of stress during the larval stages on the phenotype and fitness of the adults. Comparative physiological studies will also contribute to inform effective management decisions aimed at soothing the impact of anthropogenic disturbances before marked population declines are detected (Chown and Gaston 2008).…”

Predicting the future of forests in the Mediterranean under climate change, with niche- and process-based models: CO2 matters!

“…The identification of a general connection between biogeochemistry, plant physiology, disturbance, and species distributions would constitute a considerable advance in our predictive ability (Morin et al, 2007;Chown & Gaston, 2008). Here we take the first step in using a biogeochemical model in comparison with a niche-based model, estimates of species distributions.…”

Physiological tolerances account for range limits and abundance structure in an invasive slug

“…Recent work has also highlighted several problems with assumptions that are typically made about the role of environmental range limitation (e.g. Davis et al 1998;Austin 2007;Brooker et al 2007;Sax et al 2007;Chown & Gaston 2008). Indeed, only a few studies simultaneously investigate the form of abundance change across a range margin, propose how this change might be linked to a causal environmental factor (or dispersal limitation), demonstrate how the purported mechanism operates at the physiological level, discount the primacy of other, non-physiological factors and provide some indication of what mechanisms might be constraining evolutionary change to overcome the ecological constraint.…”