Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment
Given the threat of climate change to biodiversity, a growing number of studies are investigating the potential for organisms to adapt to rising temperatures. Earlier work has predicted that physiological adaptation to climate change will be accompanied by a shift in temperature preferences, but emp...
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:285099 2023-05-15T16:50:56+02:00 Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment Pilakouta, Natalie Killen, Shaun S. Kristjánsson, Bjarni K. Skúlason, Skúli Lindström, Jan Metcalfe, Neil B. Parsons, Kevin J. 2023-01 text https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/285099/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/285099/1/285099.pdf en eng Wiley https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/285099/1/285099.pdf Pilakouta, N. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/37388.html> , Killen, S. S. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/12343.html> , Kristjánsson, B. K. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/50654.html>, Skúlason, S., Lindström, J. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/7019.html> , Metcalfe, N. B. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/10179.html> and Parsons, K. J. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/29022.html> (2023) Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment. Ecology and Evolution <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Ecology_and_Evolution.html>, 13(1), e9654. (doi:10.1002/ece3.9654 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9654>) (PMID:36644700) (PMCID:PMC9831902) cc_by_4 Articles PeerReviewed 2023 ftuglasgow https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9654 2023-04-06T22:09:33Z Given the threat of climate change to biodiversity, a growing number of studies are investigating the potential for organisms to adapt to rising temperatures. Earlier work has predicted that physiological adaptation to climate change will be accompanied by a shift in temperature preferences, but empirical evidence for this is lacking. Here, we test whether exposure to different thermal environments has led to changes in preferred temperatures in the wild. Our study takes advantage of a “natural experiment” in Iceland, where freshwater populations of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are found in waters warmed by geothermal activity year-round (warm habitats), adjacent to populations in ambient-temperature lakes (cold habitats). We used a shuttle-box approach to measure temperature preferences of wild-caught sticklebacks from three warm–cold population pairs. Our prediction was that fish from warm habitats would prefer higher water temperatures than those from cold habitats. We found no support for this, as fish from both warm and cold habitats had an average preferred temperature of 13°C. Thus, our results challenge the assumption that there will be a shift in ectotherm temperature preferences in response to climate change. In addition, since warm-habitat fish can persist at relatively high temperatures despite a lower-temperature preference, we suggest that preferred temperature alone may be a poor indicator of a population's adaptive potential to a novel thermal environment. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Ecology and Evolution 13 1 |
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University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
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English |
description |
Given the threat of climate change to biodiversity, a growing number of studies are investigating the potential for organisms to adapt to rising temperatures. Earlier work has predicted that physiological adaptation to climate change will be accompanied by a shift in temperature preferences, but empirical evidence for this is lacking. Here, we test whether exposure to different thermal environments has led to changes in preferred temperatures in the wild. Our study takes advantage of a “natural experiment” in Iceland, where freshwater populations of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are found in waters warmed by geothermal activity year-round (warm habitats), adjacent to populations in ambient-temperature lakes (cold habitats). We used a shuttle-box approach to measure temperature preferences of wild-caught sticklebacks from three warm–cold population pairs. Our prediction was that fish from warm habitats would prefer higher water temperatures than those from cold habitats. We found no support for this, as fish from both warm and cold habitats had an average preferred temperature of 13°C. Thus, our results challenge the assumption that there will be a shift in ectotherm temperature preferences in response to climate change. In addition, since warm-habitat fish can persist at relatively high temperatures despite a lower-temperature preference, we suggest that preferred temperature alone may be a poor indicator of a population's adaptive potential to a novel thermal environment. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pilakouta, Natalie Killen, Shaun S. Kristjánsson, Bjarni K. Skúlason, Skúli Lindström, Jan Metcalfe, Neil B. Parsons, Kevin J. |
spellingShingle |
Pilakouta, Natalie Killen, Shaun S. Kristjánsson, Bjarni K. Skúlason, Skúli Lindström, Jan Metcalfe, Neil B. Parsons, Kevin J. Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
author_facet |
Pilakouta, Natalie Killen, Shaun S. Kristjánsson, Bjarni K. Skúlason, Skúli Lindström, Jan Metcalfe, Neil B. Parsons, Kevin J. |
author_sort |
Pilakouta, Natalie |
title |
Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
title_short |
Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
title_full |
Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
title_fullStr |
Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
title_sort |
geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/285099/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/285099/1/285099.pdf |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/285099/1/285099.pdf Pilakouta, N. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/37388.html> , Killen, S. S. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/12343.html> , Kristjánsson, B. K. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/50654.html>, Skúlason, S., Lindström, J. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/7019.html> , Metcalfe, N. B. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/10179.html> and Parsons, K. J. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/29022.html> (2023) Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment. Ecology and Evolution <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Ecology_and_Evolution.html>, 13(1), e9654. (doi:10.1002/ece3.9654 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9654>) (PMID:36644700) (PMCID:PMC9831902) |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9654 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
13 |
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1 |
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1766041047124672512 |