Heat resistance throughout ontogeny: body size constrains thermal tolerance.

摘要: Heat tolerance is a trait of paramount ecological importance and may determine species' ability to cope with ongoing climate change. Although critical thermal limits have consequently received substantial attention in recent years, their potential variation throughout ontogeny remained largely neglected. We investigate whether such neglect bias conclusions regarding sensitivity Using tropical butterfly, we found that developmental stages clearly differed heat tolerance. It was highest pupae followed by larvae, adults finally eggs hatchlings. Strikingly, most the explained differences body mass, which thus impose severe constraint on adaptive stress Furthermore, temperature acclimation beneficial increasing knock-down time therefore immediate survival under stress, but it affected reproduction negatively. Extreme temperatures strongly reduced subsequent reproductive success even our highly plastic model organism, exemplifying potentially dramatic impact extreme weather events biodiversity. argue predictions fate changing environmental conditions should consider ontogeny, mass responses as important predictors