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Synopsis Climate change can directly and indirectly affect species distribution. Warming may allow for invasive species, such as apple snails, to migrate to higher latitudes where temperatures are more conducive to their survival and invasion success. Higher temperatures and lower pH ranges have been previously documented to affect the form and function of calcium carbonate shells, which serve many functions, including protection from predators and thermoregulation. This study aimed to quantify differences in the morphology and mechanical properties of invasive apple snail, Pomacea maculata, shells after altering temperature and pH. We mechanically tested shells among three five-week treatments: control, higher temperature, and lower pH. Ultimate Strength increased in shells that were exposed to higher temperatures, but Young’s Modulus and Peak Load did not differ among control, temperature, and pH treatments. Apple snails in higher temperature tanks increased their shell length over the five-week trials. Although snail morphometrics did not differ between sexes, male shells exhibited a higher Peak Load, Young’s Modulus, and Ultimate Strength compared to female shells. Our findings are consistent with previous gastropod studies, in that a lower pH is associated with a decrease in shell size, and higher temperatures yield larger snail shells with a higher ultimate strength. Peak Load did not significantly differ among treatments, which suggests that the cross-sectional area is relatively important when considering this species mechanical performance today and in future climates. Due to the intense nutritional and calcium demands of egg production, female snails may be more susceptible to weakened shells due to low pH environments caused by climate change.

Synopsis In temperate environments, most species of insects enter an arrested state of development, known as diapause, that enables them to survive the adverse environmental conditions associated with winter. Although diapause is restricted to a single life stage within species of insects, there are examples of insects that overwinter in the egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. Here we offer a targeted, non-systematic literature review examining how overwintering impacts subsequent reproduction in female insects. Several factors, including the lifestage at which insects overwinter, the type of energy investment strategy females use for breeding, elements of the winter environment, and contributions from male insects can influence trade-offs that female insects face between overwintering survival and post-diapause reproduction. Additionally, climate change and elements of the urban environment, including light pollution and higher temperatures in cities, can exacerbate or ameliorate trade-offs faced by reproducing female insects. Better understanding the trade-offs between overwintering survival and reproduction in insects not only enhances our understanding of the underlying physiological mechanisms and ecological processes governing diapause and reproduction, but also provides opportunities to better manage insect pests and/or support beneficial insects.

AbstractMany studies of the flow of energy between the body, muscles, and elastic elements highlight advantages of the storage and recovery of elastic energy. The spring-like action of structures associated with muscles allows for movements that are less costly, more powerful and safer than would be possible with contractile elements alone. But these actions also present challenges that might not be present if the pattern of energy flow were simpler, for example, if power were always applied directly from muscle to motions of the body. Muscle is under the direct control of the nervous system, and precise modulation of activity can allow for finely controlled displacement and force. Elastic structures deform under load in a predictable way, but are not under direct control, thus both displacement and the flow of energy act at the mercy of the mechanical interaction of muscle and forces associated with movement. Studies on isolated muscle-tendon units highlight the challenges of controlling such systems. A carefully tuned activation pattern is necessary for effective cycling of energy between tendon and the environment; most activation patterns lead to futile cycling of energy between tendon and muscle. In power-amplified systems, “elastic backfire” sometimes occurs, where energy loaded into tendon acts to lengthen active muscles, rather than accelerate the body. Classic models of proprioception that rely on muscle spindle organs for sensing muscle and joint displacement illustrate how elastic structures might influence sensory feedback by decoupling joint movement from muscle fiber displacements. The significance of the complex flow of energy between muscles, elastic elements and the body for neuromotor control is worth exploring.

Seasonality is a critically important aspect of environmental variability, and strongly shapes all aspects of life for organisms living in highly seasonal environments. Seasonality has played a key role in generating biodiversity, and has driven the evolution of extreme physiological adaptations and behaviors such as migration and hibernation. Fluctuating selection pressures on survival and fecundity between summer and winter provide a complex selective landscape, which can be met by a combination of three outcomes of adaptive evolution: genetic polymorphism, phenotypic plasticity, and bet-hedging. Here, we have identified four important research questions with the goal of advancing our understanding of evolutionary impacts of seasonality. First, we ask how characteristics of environments and species will determine which adaptive response occurs. Relevant characteristics include costs and limits of plasticity, predictability, and reliability of cues, and grain of environmental variation relative to generation time. A second important question is how phenological shifts will amplify or ameliorate selection on physiological hardiness. Shifts in phenology can preserve the thermal niche despite shifts in climate, but may fail to completely conserve the niche or may even expose life stages to conditions that cause mortality. Considering distinct environmental sensitivities of life history stages will be key to refining models that forecast susceptibility to climate change. Third, we must identify critical physiological phenotypes that underlie seasonal adaptation and work toward understanding the genetic architectures of these responses. These architectures are key for predicting evolutionary responses. Pleiotropic genes that regulate multiple responses to changing seasons may facilitate coordination among functionally related traits, or conversely may constrain the expression of optimal phenotypes. Finally, we must advance our understanding of how changes in seasonal fluctuations are impacting ecological interaction networks. We should move beyond simple dyadic interactions, such as predator prey dynamics, and understand how these interactions scale up to affect ecological interaction networks. As global climate change alters many aspects of seasonal variability, including extreme events and changes in mean conditions, organisms must respond appropriately or go extinct. The outcome of adaptation to seasonality will determine responses to climate change.

Studies have shown that organically farmed fields promote natural predator populations and often have lower pest populations than conventional fields, due to a combination of increased predation pressure and greater plant resistance to pest damage. It is unknown how pest populations and predator efficacy may respond in these farming systems as global temperatures increase. To test these questions, we placed enclosures in eight alfalfa fields farmed using conventional (n = 4) or organic (n = 4) practices for 25 years. We stocked enclosures with pea aphids and 0, 2, or 4 predaceous ladybeetles. Half of the enclosures per field were then either left at ambient temperature or plastic-wrapped to warm them by 2 °C. Aphid abundances were similar in conventional and organic fields under ambient conditions, but were significantly more abundant in conventional than in organic fields when enclosures were warmed. Predator efficacy was reduced under low predator abundance (Hippodamia convergens = 2) in conventional fields under warming conditions; predation strength in organic fields was unaffected by warming. Alfalfa biomass increased with increased predators in all farming and temperature treatments. Our study suggests that biological control may be more easily maintained in organic than in conventional systems as global temperature increases.

The mean and variance of environmental temperature are changing as a consequence of human activities. Ectotherms are sensitive to these temperature changes in the short term, typically displaying a unimodal response of most biological rates to temperature (thermal performance curves; TPCs). Many organisms, however, may acclimate or evolve in response to new temperature regimes. In particular, population growth rate TPCs (r TPCs) reflect the ability to maintain positive growth under a range of temperatures, and therefore shifts in r TPCs due to acclimation are fundamental to our understanding of how ectotherms will respond to changes in climate. Here, we derive a model for r TPCs rooted in temperature dependent metabolic rate (through enzyme kinetics and activity). We then use this model to interpret the effects of acclimation to different temperatures on r TPCs of the protist Paramecium bursaria. Intermediate acclimation temperatures generally resulted in higher upper critical thermal limits, thermal optima, maximum population growth rate, and the area under the TPC. Lower critical thermal limits increased linearly with acclimation temperature, causing a decrease in thermal breadth with increased acclimation temperature. Thus, rather than showing improved performance at the acclimation temperature, P. bursaria appeared to pay a price at all temperatures for acclimating to higher temperatures. The fits of our data to our model also suggest that changes in the structure and function of metabolic enzymes may underlie the changes in the TPCs. Specifically, our results suggest that both the delta heat capacity and delta enthalpy of formation of metabolic enzymes may have increased with acclimation. Since these two factors are correlated across acclimation temperatures, our data also suggest potential trade-offs that may constrain changes in TPCs.

Synopsis Since the late 1800s, anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel consumption and deforestation have driven up the concentration of atmospheric CO2 around the globe by >45%. Such heightened concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a leading contributor to global climate change, with estimates of a 2–5° increase in global air temperature by the end of the century. While such climatic changes are mostly considered detrimental, a great deal of experimental work has shown that increased atmospheric CO2 will actually increase growth in various plants, which may lead to increased biomass for potential harvesting or CO2 sequestration. However, it is not clear whether this increase in growth or biomass will be beneficial to the plants, as such increases may lead to weaker plant materials. In this review, I examine our current understanding of how elevated atmospheric CO2 caused by anthropogenic effects may influence plant material properties, focusing on potential effects on wood. For the first part of the review, I explore how aspects of wood anatomy and structure influence resistance to bending and breakage. This information is then used to review how changes in CO2 levels may later these aspects of wood anatomy and structure in ways that have mechanical consequences. The major pattern that emerges is that the consequences of elevated CO2 on wood properties are highly dependent on species and environment, with different tree species showing contradictory responses to atmospheric changes. In the end, I describe a couple avenues for future research into better understanding the influence of atmospheric CO2 levels on plant biomaterial mechanics.

SynopsisIntraspecific variation can be as great as variation across species, but the role of intraspecific variation in driving local and large-scale patterns is often overlooked, particularly in the field of thermal biology. In amphibians, which depend on environmental conditions and behavior to regulate body temperature, recognizing intraspecific thermal trait variation is essential to comprehensively understanding how global change impacts populations. Here, we examine the drivers of micro- and macrogeographical intraspecific thermal trait variation in amphibians. At the local scale, intraspecific variation can arise via changes in ontogeny, body size, and between the sexes, and developmental plasticity, acclimation, and maternal effects may modulate predictions of amphibian performance under future climate scenarios. At the macrogeographic scale, local adaptation in thermal traits may occur along latitudinal and elevational gradients, with seasonality and range-edge dynamics likely playing important roles in patterns that may impact future persistence. We also discuss the importance of considering disease as a factor affecting intraspecific variation in thermal traits and population resilience to climate change, given the impact of pathogens on thermal preferences and critical thermal limits of hosts. Finally, we make recommendations for future work in this area. Ultimately, our goal is to demonstrate why it is important for researchers to consider intraspecific variation to determine the resilience of amphibians to global change.

We describe the inspiration, development, and deployment of a novel cocktail device modeled after a class of water-walking insects. Semi-aquatic insects like Microvelia and Velia evade predators by releasing a surfactant that quickly propels them across the water. We exploit an analogous propulsion mechanism in the design of an edible cocktail boat. We discuss how gradients in surface tension lead to motion across the water's surface, and detail the design considerations associated with the insect-inspired cocktail boat.