School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
Proc Biol Sci. 2011 Sep 22;278(1719):2745-52. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2675. Epub 2011 Feb 2.
Because key nutritional processes differ in their thermal optima, ectotherms may use temperature selection to optimize performance in changing nutritional environments. Such behaviour would be especially advantageous to small terrestrial animals, which have low thermal inertia and often have access to a wide range of environmental temperatures over small distances. Using the locust, Locusta migratoria, we have demonstrated a direct link between nutritional state and thermoregulatory behaviour. When faced with chronic restrictions to the supply of nutrients, locusts selected increasingly lower temperatures within a gradient, thereby maximizing nutrient use efficiency at the cost of slower growth. Over the shorter term, when locusts were unable to find a meal in the normal course of ad libitum feeding, they immediately adjusted their thermoregulatory behaviour, selecting a lower temperature at which assimilation efficiency was maximal. Thus, locusts use fine scale patterns of movement and temperature selection to adjust for reduced nutrient supply and thereby ameliorate associated life-history consequences.
由于关键的营养过程在其热最佳值上存在差异，变温动物可能会利用温度选择来优化在不断变化的营养环境中的表现。这种行为对于小型陆生动物尤其有利，因为它们的热惯性低，而且通常可以在短距离内接触到广泛的环境温度。我们使用蝗虫（Locusta migratoria）证明了营养状态和体温调节行为之间的直接联系。当面临营养供应的慢性限制时，蝗虫在梯度范围内选择越来越低的温度，从而以牺牲生长速度为代价最大化营养利用效率。在短期内，当蝗虫在随意进食的过程中无法找到食物时，它们会立即调整体温调节行为，选择同化效率最高的较低温度。因此，蝗虫利用精细的运动和温度选择模式来适应营养供应的减少，从而减轻相关的生活史后果。
