Impact of global warming at the range margins: Phenotypic plasticity and behavioral thermoregulation will buffer an endemic amphibian

© 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. When dispersal is not an option to evade warming temperatures, compensation through behavior, plasticity, or evolutionary adaptation is essential to prevent extinction. In this work, we evaluated whether there is physiological plasticity in the thermal performance curve (TPC) of maximum jumping speed in individuals acclimated to current and projected temperatures and whether there is an opportunity for behavioral thermoregulation in the desert landscape where inhabits the northernmost population of the endemic frog Pleurodema thaul. Our results indicate that individuals acclimated to 20°C and 25°C increased the breath of their TPCs by shifting their upper limits with respect to when they were acclimated at 10°C. In addition, even when dispersal is not possible for this population, the landscape is heterogeneous enough to offer opportunities for behavioral thermoregulation. In particular, under current climatic conditions, behavioral thermoregulation is not compulsory as available operative temperatures are encompassed within the population TPC limits. However, for severe projected temperatures under climate change, behavioral thermoregulation will be required in the sunny patches. In overall, our results suggest that this population of Pleurodema thaul will be able to endure the worst projected scenario of climate warming as it has not only the physiological capacities but also the environmental opportunities to regulate its body temperature behaviorally.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

ESTRUCTURA DE LA COMUNIDAD DEL PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA EN AGUAS SOMERAS DE LA BAHÍA DE TAGANGA, CARIBE COLOMBIANO SHALLOW WATER ECHINODERMATA PHYLUM COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF TAGANGA BAY, COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN

RESUMEN La bahía de Taganga soporta una fuerte presión antropogénica que amenaza a las comunidades y ecosistemas marinos establecidos en este sector, especialmente a organismos sensibles a cambios ambientales y contaminación, como los equinodermos. En este estudio, se determinó la estructura de la comunidad del phylum Echinodermata en las aguas someras de la bahía de Taganga, con el fin de establecer una línea base para el monitoreo del impacto de las actividades humanas sobre la fauna marina de este sector turístico. Para el reconocimiento de las principales especies de este Phylum, se realizaron salidas de campo desde enero a septiembre de 2006, identificando los organismos presentes en el área, mediante censo visual y colecta manual. Los muestreos fueron efectuados en la zona intermareal a profundidades menores a 10m; los 283 especimenes colectados fueron identificados en el laboratorio del Centro de Investigaciones en Zoología y Ecología Marina en la Universidad del Magdalena, siguiendo las claves correspondientes para cada clase, género y especie. Se presenta una lista sistemática que incluye 18 especies de equinodermos distribuidas en cinco clases y doce familias para esta localidad; siendo las clases Echinoidea y Ophiuroidea las mejor representadas en términos de riqueza, con siete y seis especies, respectivamente, al igual que de abundancia relativaSUMMARY The Taganga bay supports a strong anthropogenic pressure that threatens the communities and marine ecosystems established in this sector, especially organisms sensible to environmental changes and contamination like the echinoderms. In this study, the structure of the Phylum Echinodermata community in shallows waters of Taganga bay was determined, with the purpose of establishing a base line for monitoring the human activities impact on the marine fauna of this tourist sector. For the survey of the main species of this phylum, field trips were organized from January to September of 2006, identifying the existing species of echinoderms in the area by visual census and manual collects. The samplings were taken in the intermareal zone up to a depths of <10m; the 283 specimens collected were identified in the laboratory of CIZEM at the Magdalena University following the corresponding keys for each class and genus. A systematic list is presented for this locality that includes 18 species of echinoderms distributed in five classes and twelve, being the Class Echinoidea and Ophiuroidea the best represented in terms of richness with seven and six species respectively, as well as of relative abundance

Shallow water Echinodermata Phylum community structure of Taganga bay, colombian caribbean

La bahía de Taganga soporta una fuerte presión antropogénica que amenaza a las comunidades y ecosistemas marinos establecidos en este sector, especialmente a organismos sensibles a cambios ambientales y contaminación, como los equinodermos. En este estudio, se determinó la estructura de la comunidad del phylum Echinodermata en las aguas someras de la bahía de Taganga, con el fin de establecer una línea base para el monitoreo del impacto de las actividades humanas sobre la fauna marina de este sector turístico. Para el reconocimiento de las principales especies de este Phylum, se realizaron salidas de campo desde enero a septiembre de 2006, identificando los organismos presentes en el área, mediante censo visual y colecta manual. Los muestreos fueron efectuados en la zona intermareal a profundidades menores a 10m; los 283 especimenes colectados fueron identificados en el laboratorio del Centro de Investigaciones en Zoología y Ecología Marina en la Universidad del Magdalena, siguiendo las claves correspondientes para cada clase, género y especie. Se presenta una lista sistemática que incluye 18 especies de equinodermos distribuidas en cinco clases y doce familias para esta localidad; siendo las clases Echinoidea y Ophiuroidea las mejor representadas en términos de riqueza, con siete y seis especies, respectivamente, al igual que de abundancia relativa.The Taganga bay supports a strong anthropogenic pressure that threatens the communities and marine ecosystems established in this sector, especially organisms sensible to environmental changes and contamination like the echinoderms. In this study, the structure of the Phylum Echinodermata community in shallows waters of Taganga bay was determined, with the purpose of establishing a base line for monitoring the human activities impact on the marine fauna of this tourist sector. For the survey of the main species of this phylum, field trips were organized from January to September of 2006, identifying the existing species of echinoderms in the area by visual census and manual collects. The samplings were taken in the intermareal zone up to a depths of <10m; the 283 specimens collected were identified in the laboratory of CIZEM at the Magdalena University following the corresponding keys for each class and genus. A systematic list is presented for this locality that includes 18 species of echinoderms distributed in five classes and twelve, being the Class Echinoidea and Ophiuroidea the best represented in terms of richness with seven and six species respectively, as well as of relative abundance.Incluye referencias bibliográfica

Phylogenetic analysis of the complete mitogenome sequence of the raspberry weevil, Aegorhinus superciliosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), supports monophyly of the tribe Aterpini

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. The superfamily Curculionoidea is one of the most diverse groups of insects in the world, including many species which are crop pests. Within this group, the native raspberry weevil, Aegorhinus superciliosus (Guérin, 1830), is an important pest in blueberry and raspberry fields in southern South America. Using a 454 sequencing approach, we sequenced and annotated the mitogenome of A. superciliosus, it, providing the first such information for any species in the tribe Aterpini, subfamily Cyclominae. The assembled mitogenome is a circular DNA molecule 15,121 bp in length containing all 37 genes normally found in metazoans. Mitogenome organization and transcriptional orientation in A. superciliosus showed the same pattern that characterizes the suborder Polyphaga. Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic analyses supported the monophyly of the tribe Aterpini and the subf amily Cyclominae, recovering this clade in a sister group relationship with Entiminae and Hyperinae. The monophyly of these three subfamilies defines a critical transition to an ectophagous lifestyle in the larvae, from an ancestrally endophagous larval lifestyle in all other lineages. The sequenced mitogenome of A. superciliosus can provide basic data for future studies investigating population history, molecular systematics, stress ecophysiology and phylogeography.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Nacella limpets reveal novel evolutionary characteristics of mitochondrial genomes in Patellogastropoda

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) provide valuable phylogenetic information and genome-level characters that are useful in resolving evolutionary relationships within major lineages of gastropods. However, for more than one decade, these relationships and the phylogenetic position of Patellogastropoda have been inferred based on the genomic architecture as well as the nucleotide and protein sequences of a single representative, the limpet Lottia digitalis. This mitogenome exhibits extensive rearrangements and several repetitive units that may not represent universal features for Patellogastropoda. Here, we sequenced the complete mitogenomes of three Nacella limpets, providing new insights into the dynamics of gene order and phylogenetic relationships of Patellogastropoda. Comparative analyses revealed novel gene rearrangements in Gastropoda, characterised by two main translocations that affect the KARNI and the MYCWQ clusters in Nacella limpets. Our phylogeneti

Geographical gradients in selection can reveal genetic constraints for evolutionary responses to ocean acidification

Geographical gradients in selection can shape different genetic architectures in natural populations, reflecting potential genetic constraints for adaptive evolution under climate change. Investigation of natural pH/pCO(2) variation in upwelling regions reveals different spatio-temporal patterns of natural selection, generating genetic and phenotypic clines in populations, and potentially leading to local adaptation, relevant to understanding effects of ocean acidification (OA). Strong directional selection, associated with intense and continuous upwellings, may have depleted genetic variation in populations within these upwelling regions, favouring increased tolerances to low pH but with an associated cost in other traits. In contrast, diversifying or weak directional selection in populations with seasonal upwellings or outside major upwelling regions may have resulted in higher genetic variances and the lack of genetic correlations among traits. Testing this hypothesis in geographical regions with similar environmental conditions to those predicted under climate change will build insights into how selection may act in the future and how populations may respond to stressors such as OA

Geographic variation in thermal physiological performance of the intertidal crab Petrolisthes violaceus along a latitudinal gradient

© 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. Environmental temperature has profound effects on the biological performance and biogeographical distribution of ectothermic species. Variation of this abiotic factor across geographic gradients is expected to produce physiological differentiation and local adaptation of natural populations depending on their thermal tolerances and physiological sensitivities. Here, we studied geographic variation in whole-organism thermal physiology of seven populations of the porcelain crab Petrolisthes violaceus across a latitudinal gradient of 3000 km, characterized by a cline of thermal conditions. Our study found that populations of P. violaceus show no differences in the limits of their thermal performance curves and demonstrate a negative correlation of their optimal temperatures with latitude. Additionally, our findings show that high-latitude populations of P. violaceus exhibit broader thermal tolerances, which is consistent with the climatic variability hypothesis. Interestingly, under a future scenario of warming oceans, the thermal safety margins of P. violaceus indicate that lower latitude populations can physiologically tolerate the ocean-warming scenarios projected by the IPCC for the end of the twenty-first century.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Spatio-temporal environmental variation mediates geographical differences in phenotypic responses to ocean acidification

© 2017 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Phenotypic plasticity is expected to play a major adaptive role in the response of species to ocean acidification (OA), by providing broader tolerances to changes in pCO 2 conditions. However, tolerances and sensitivities to future OA may differ among populations within a species because of their particular environmental context and genetic backgrounds. Here, using the climatic variability hypothesis (CVH), we explored this conceptual framework in populations of the sea urchin Loxechinus albus across natural fluctuating pCO 2 /pH environments. Although elevated pCO 2 affected the morphology, physiology, development and survival of sea urchin larvae, the magnitude of these effects differed among populations. These differences were consistent with the predictions of the CVH showing greater tolerance to OA in populations experiencing greater local variation in seawater pCO 2 /pH. Considering geographical differences in plasticity, tolerances and sensitivities to increased pCO 2 will provide more accurate predictions for species responses to future OA.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex