Tolerance landscapes in thermal ecology

Abstract

Summary1. How thermal tolerance estimated in the laboratory can be extrapolated to natural settings remains a contentious subject. Here, we argue that the general premise that a single temperature can accurately describe upper or lower tolerance limits is incorrect. 2. Survival probability is determined by both the intensity and the duration of a thermal stress, and the association between these variables can be adequately conveyed by a thermal tolerance landscape. Employing this framework, we demonstrate that the temperature range that an organism can tolerate is expected to narrow down with the duration of the thermal challenge. 3. Analyses suggest that a trade-off exists between tolerances to acute and chronic exposition to thermal stress, and that changes in temperature means or extremes may result in drastically different selective pressures and subsequent evolutionary responses. 4. After controlling for the duration of the thermal challenge, we also uncover latitudinal effects on upper lethal temperatures in insects that remained unnoticed in previous broad-scale comparative analyses. 5. Ultimately, critical thermal limits have been adopted in the ecological literature for logistic reasons and are inadequate descriptors of thermal tolerance on conceptual grounds. We consider that tolerance landscapes provide a more suitable framework to study temperature tolerance and its potential impact in ecological settings.

Vulnerability to climate warming and acclimation capacity of tropical and temperate coastal organisms

“…Feder, 1978Feder, , 1982Tsuji, 1988;Stillman and Somero, 2000;Stillman, 2002Stillman, , 2003Rezende et al, 2014). Its CTMax of nearly 41 • C is the highest reported here, however this is the same temperature recorded in tide pools during heat waves, in southeastern Brazil (Supplementary material), where specimens were captured.…”

“…Stillman (2003) explored the interspecific variability in response to warming in porcelain crabs (genus Petrolisthes) and found that species with the greatest tolerance to high temperatures displayed the smallest acclimation capacity. Additionally, Rezende et al (2014) demonstrated that the temperature range that an organism can tolerate is expected to narrow down with the duration of the thermal challenge, suggesting that a trade-off exists between tolerance to acute and chronic exposition to thermal stress. These findings suggests that species with the higher thermal limits may be the most vulnerable to small sustained increases in temperature, this way, tropical species appear as the most vulnerable to global warming (Somero, 2010).…”

Effect of warming rate on the critical thermal maxima of crabs, shrimp and fish

“…The results from the present study agree with this conclusion, since organisms with different body shapes and surface/volume ratios, such as crabs and shrimp/fish were tested, and crab's response was different from that of shrimp/fish. Additionally, Rezende et al (2014) demonstrated that the temperature range that an organism can tolerate is expected to narrow down with the duration of the thermal challenge, suggesting that a trade-off exists between tolerance to acute and chronic exposition to thermal stress. These authors suggest that the use of thermal tolerance landscapes, which include both the time of exposure and temperature, will be more adequate in providing an index of thermal tolerance that is ecologically relevant.…”

Fluctuating temperatures and ectotherm growth: distinguishing non-linear and time-dependent effects

“…Predictions are based on the thermal performance curves in Fig. 1 Kingsolver et al, 2004;Rezende et al, 2011Rezende et al, , 2014. More generally, optimal and maximal temperatures are frequently greater for shortterm (e.g.…”

“…However, many studies have shown that the duration of exposure can influence performance even for non-lethal temperatures, and the thermal range for performance can decrease with increasing duration of exposure (Rezende et al, 2014). For example, for larval growth in insects, body temperatures that maximize growth rates at short time scales (4-24 h) can be suboptimal or even lethal over longer time scales (Reynolds and Nottingham, 1985;Kingsolver and Woods, 1997;Kingsolver, 2000;Petersen et al, 2000;Kingsolver et al, 2004;Kingsolver and Nagle, 2007).…”