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

Effect of Anilocra frontalis parasitization on the thermal tolerance, acclimation capacity and condition of its fish host Pomatoschistus microps (Krøyer, 1838)

“…The Critical Thermal Maxima for non-parasitized P. microps is in accordance with previous work (Vinagre et al, 2016). As expected, P. microps presented higher values of CTMax and Fulton's K when not parasitized.…”

“…As expected, P. microps presented higher values of CTMax and Fulton's K when not parasitized. The absence of differences between specimens exposed to different acclimation temperatures also suggests that this species has no acclimation capacity, being vulnerable to rising ocean temperatures (Vinagre et al, 2016). The absence of differences between specimens exposed to different acclimation temperatures also suggests that this species has no acclimation capacity, being vulnerable to rising ocean temperatures (Vinagre et al, 2016).…”

“…The absence of differences between specimens exposed to different acclimation temperatures also suggests that this species has no acclimation capacity, being vulnerable to rising ocean temperatures (Vinagre et al, 2016). On the other hand, the high intraspecific variability observed is indicative of a good genetic variability in the population, which can help P. microps to adapt by selection of the most suitable temperature (Vinagre et al, 2016). Uppercase letters = significant differences F I G U R E 3 Fulton's condition index (K) and Pearson coefficient of variation as error bars for non-parasitized (NP) and parasitized (WP) Pomatoschistus microps acclimatized to 22°C (n = 21 for NP, n = 15 for WP) and 26°C (n = 19 for NP, n = 12 for WP).…”

Can acclimation of thermal tolerance, in adults and across generations, act as a buffer against climate change in tropical marine ectotherms?

“…Microhabitat temperatures were not measured and so it is not known if the high shore A. amphitrite experiences the warmest temperatures or is at least partially shaded by the mangrove trees they live on. Previous studies have found that marine ectotherms from the warmest microhabitats have a reduced acclimation capacity compared to those from cooler microhabitats (Stillman and Somero, 2000;Vinagre et al, 2015), suggesting that A amphitrite may benefit from habitat shading.…”

Oxygen-dependence of upper thermal limits in fishes

“…Nonetheless, CT max and an organism's thermal breadth (CT max −CT min , the critical thermal minimum) have been applied widely in both experimental studies and meta-analyses on the impacts of climate warming on aquatic ectotherms, including in predictions of their global (re)distribution (e.g. Sunday et al, 2011;Sunday et al, 2012;Magozzi and Calosi, 2015;Vinagre et al, 2016). Investigating the oxygen dependence of thermal tolerance using CT max is, therefore, highly relevant for continued research efforts aimed at understanding how climate change will impact ecological physiology and species' distributions.…”