Selection on phenotypic plasticity favors thermal canalization
Svensson, Erik I. LU
; Gomez-Llano, Miguel
LU
and Waller, John T.
LU
(2020)
In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
117(47).
p.29767-29774
- Abstract
Climate change affects organisms worldwide with profound ecological and evolutionary consequences, often increasing population extinction risk. Climatic factors can increase the strength, variability, or direction of natural selection on phenotypic traits, potentially driving adaptive evolution. Phenotypic plasticity in relation to temperature can allow organisms to maintain fitness in response to increasing temperatures, thereby "buying time" for subsequent genetic adaptation and promoting evolutionary rescue. Although many studies have shown that organisms respond plastically to increasing temperatures, it is unclear if such thermal plasticity is adaptive. Moreover, we know little about how natural and sexual selection operate on... (More)
Climate change affects organisms worldwide with profound ecological and evolutionary consequences, often increasing population extinction risk. Climatic factors can increase the strength, variability, or direction of natural selection on phenotypic traits, potentially driving adaptive evolution. Phenotypic plasticity in relation to temperature can allow organisms to maintain fitness in response to increasing temperatures, thereby "buying time" for subsequent genetic adaptation and promoting evolutionary rescue. Although many studies have shown that organisms respond plastically to increasing temperatures, it is unclear if such thermal plasticity is adaptive. Moreover, we know little about how natural and sexual selection operate on thermal reaction norms, reflecting such plasticity. Here, we investigate how natural and sexual selection shape phenotypic plasticity in two congeneric and phenotypically similar sympatric insect species. We show that the thermal optima for longevity and mating success differ, suggesting temperature-dependent trade-offs between survival and reproduction in both sexes. Males in these species have similar thermal reaction norm slopes but have diverged in baseline body temperature (intercepts), being higher for the more northern species. Natural selection favored reduced thermal reaction norm slopes at high ambient temperatures, suggesting that the current level of thermal plasticity is maladaptive in the context of anthropogenic climate change and that selection now promotes thermal canalization and robustness. Our results show that ectothermic animals also at high latitudes can suffer from overheating and challenge the common view of phenotypic plasticity as being beneficial in harsh and novel environments.
(Less)
- author
- Svensson, Erik I.
LU
; Gomez-Llano, Miguel
LU
and Waller, John T.
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Canalization, Insects, Phenotypic plasticity, Sexual selection, Thermal adaptation
- in
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- volume
- 117
- issue
- 47
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85096889563
- pmid:33168720
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.2012454117
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f09d471b-79a2-416c-a822-58405a87c123
- date added to LUP
- 2020-12-11 10:09:25
- date last changed
- 2024-04-17 20:49:53
@article{f09d471b-79a2-416c-a822-58405a87c123,
abstract = {{<p>Climate change affects organisms worldwide with profound ecological and evolutionary consequences, often increasing population extinction risk. Climatic factors can increase the strength, variability, or direction of natural selection on phenotypic traits, potentially driving adaptive evolution. Phenotypic plasticity in relation to temperature can allow organisms to maintain fitness in response to increasing temperatures, thereby "buying time" for subsequent genetic adaptation and promoting evolutionary rescue. Although many studies have shown that organisms respond plastically to increasing temperatures, it is unclear if such thermal plasticity is adaptive. Moreover, we know little about how natural and sexual selection operate on thermal reaction norms, reflecting such plasticity. Here, we investigate how natural and sexual selection shape phenotypic plasticity in two congeneric and phenotypically similar sympatric insect species. We show that the thermal optima for longevity and mating success differ, suggesting temperature-dependent trade-offs between survival and reproduction in both sexes. Males in these species have similar thermal reaction norm slopes but have diverged in baseline body temperature (intercepts), being higher for the more northern species. Natural selection favored reduced thermal reaction norm slopes at high ambient temperatures, suggesting that the current level of thermal plasticity is maladaptive in the context of anthropogenic climate change and that selection now promotes thermal canalization and robustness. Our results show that ectothermic animals also at high latitudes can suffer from overheating and challenge the common view of phenotypic plasticity as being beneficial in harsh and novel environments.</p>}},
author = {{Svensson, Erik I. and Gomez-Llano, Miguel and Waller, John T.}},
issn = {{0027-8424}},
keywords = {{Canalization; Insects; Phenotypic plasticity; Sexual selection; Thermal adaptation}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{47}},
pages = {{29767--29774}},
publisher = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
series = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
title = {{Selection on phenotypic plasticity favors thermal canalization}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012454117}},
doi = {{10.1073/pnas.2012454117}},
volume = {{117}},
year = {{2020}},
}