Plasticity and local adaptation explain lizard cold tolerance

Abstract

How does climate variation limit the range of species and what does it take for species to colonize new regions? In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Campbell-Staton et al. () address these broad questions by investigating cold tolerance adaptation in the green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) across a latitudinal transect. By integrating physiological data, gene expression data and acclimation experiments, the authors disentangle the mechanisms underlying cold adaptation. They first establish that cold tolerance adaptation in Anolis lizards follows the predictions of the oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance hypothesis, which states that organisms are limited by temperature thresholds at which oxygen supply cannot meet demand. They then explore the drivers of cold tolerance at a finer scale, finding evidence that northern populations are adapted to cooler thermal regimes and that both phenotypic plasticity and heritable genetic variation contribute to cold tolerance. The integration of physiological and gene expression data further highlights the varied mechanisms that drive cold tolerance adaptation in Anolis lizards, including both supply-side and demand-side adaptations that improve oxygen economy. Altogether, their work provides new insight into the physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation to new climatic niches and demonstrates that cold tolerance in northern lizard populations is achieved through the synergy of physiological plasticity and local genetic adaptation for thermal performance.

Novel ecological and climatic conditions drive rapid adaptation in invasive Florida Burmese pythons

“…This pattern suggests that directional selection in these genomic regions may have driven allelic changes that have modified expression of key genes involved with regenerative organ growth. We cannot, however, discount the role of plasticity, either alone or together with genetic adaptation, in driving patterns of differential expression (Card, Schield, & Castoe, ; Ghalambor, McKay, Carroll, & Reznick, ). Additionally, five of the six genes identified by our analyses of allele frequency changes, and highlighted above as being important in organ growth, showed differentially expressed transcripts between fasted post‐freeze and laboratory pythons (IHW FDR < 0.1).…”

Editorial 2019

“…Genetic shifts associated with abiotic adaptation were a topic of quite a few studies, including the combined effects of phenotypic plasticity and local adaption in allowing lizard adaptation to new climatic regimes (Card, Schield, & Castoe, 2018), local adaptation in abalone (Lampert, 2018) and adaptive evolution following species introductions (Seeb, McKinney, & Seeb, 2018).…”

Demographic, physiological and genetic factors linked to the poleward range expansion of the snail Nerita yoldii along the shoreline of China

“…Species range shift in response to climate change and human activities has been rearranging biogeographical provinces (Barnosky et al, 2012;Blowes et al, 2019;Pinsky et al, 2019Pinsky et al, , 2020Poloczanska et al, 2013;Sunday et al, 2012). To cope with novel environments during species range expansion, organisms can adjust their tolerance limits by phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary adaptation (Card et al, 2018;Donelson et al, 2019;Sandoval-Castillo et al, 2020).…”

“…Species range shift in response to climate change and human activities has been rearranging biogeographical provinces (Barnosky et al, 2012; Blowes et al, 2019; Pinsky et al, 2019, 2020; Poloczanska et al, 2013; Sunday et al, 2012). To cope with novel environments during species range expansion, organisms can adjust their tolerance limits by phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary adaptation (Card et al, 2018; Donelson et al, 2019; Sandoval‐Castillo et al, 2020). Much progress has been made in studying phenotypic differences in traits of morphology, life history, behaviour and physiology between expanding and source populations under differential selective pressures (Carbonell & Stoks, 2020; Chuang & Peterson, 2016; Lustenhouwer et al, 2018; Wang, Ren, et al, 2022).…”