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Fitness cost from fluctuating ultraviolet radiation in Daphnia magna

Stábile, Franca LU orcid ; Brönmark, Christer LU ; Hansson, Lars Anders LU orcid and Lee, Marcus LU orcid (2021) In Biology letters 17(8).
Abstract

Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is an important environmental threat for organisms in aquatic systems, but its temporally variable nature makes the understanding of its effects ambiguous. The aim of our study was to assess potential fitness costs associated with fluctuating UVR in the aquatic zooplankter Daphnia magna. We investigated individual survival, reproduction and behaviour when exposed to different UVR treatments. Individuals exposed to fluctuating UVR, resembling natural variations in cloud cover, had the lowest fitness (measured as the number of offspring produced during their lifespan). By contrast, individuals exposed to the same, but constant UVR dose had similar fitness to control individuals (not exposed to UVR), but... (More)

Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is an important environmental threat for organisms in aquatic systems, but its temporally variable nature makes the understanding of its effects ambiguous. The aim of our study was to assess potential fitness costs associated with fluctuating UVR in the aquatic zooplankter Daphnia magna. We investigated individual survival, reproduction and behaviour when exposed to different UVR treatments. Individuals exposed to fluctuating UVR, resembling natural variations in cloud cover, had the lowest fitness (measured as the number of offspring produced during their lifespan). By contrast, individuals exposed to the same, but constant UVR dose had similar fitness to control individuals (not exposed to UVR), but they showed a significant reduction in daily movement. The re-occurring threat response to the fluctuating UVR treatment thus had strong fitness costs for D. magna, and we found no evidence for plastic behavioural responses when continually being exposed to UVR, despite the regular, predictable exposure schedule. In a broader context, our results imply that depending on how variable a stressor is in nature, populations may respond with alternative strategies, a framework that could promote rapid population differentiation and local adaptation.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
behavioural plasticity, Daphnia, fitness, fluctuating environment, ultraviolet radiation, zooplankton
in
Biology letters
volume
17
issue
8
article number
20210261
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • pmid:34343437
  • scopus:85113565156
ISSN
1744-9561
DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2021.0261
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e2b48fb3-98ea-4385-981c-945877ca8293
date added to LUP
2021-09-20 15:50:36
date last changed
2025-06-02 01:04:20
@article{e2b48fb3-98ea-4385-981c-945877ca8293,
  abstract     = {{<p>Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is an important environmental threat for organisms in aquatic systems, but its temporally variable nature makes the understanding of its effects ambiguous. The aim of our study was to assess potential fitness costs associated with fluctuating UVR in the aquatic zooplankter Daphnia magna. We investigated individual survival, reproduction and behaviour when exposed to different UVR treatments. Individuals exposed to fluctuating UVR, resembling natural variations in cloud cover, had the lowest fitness (measured as the number of offspring produced during their lifespan). By contrast, individuals exposed to the same, but constant UVR dose had similar fitness to control individuals (not exposed to UVR), but they showed a significant reduction in daily movement. The re-occurring threat response to the fluctuating UVR treatment thus had strong fitness costs for D. magna, and we found no evidence for plastic behavioural responses when continually being exposed to UVR, despite the regular, predictable exposure schedule. In a broader context, our results imply that depending on how variable a stressor is in nature, populations may respond with alternative strategies, a framework that could promote rapid population differentiation and local adaptation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Stábile, Franca and Brönmark, Christer and Hansson, Lars Anders and Lee, Marcus}},
  issn         = {{1744-9561}},
  keywords     = {{behavioural plasticity; Daphnia; fitness; fluctuating environment; ultraviolet radiation; zooplankton}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Biology letters}},
  title        = {{Fitness cost from fluctuating ultraviolet radiation in Daphnia magna}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0261}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rsbl.2021.0261}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}