Kleckova Irena, Klecka Jan
Laboratory of Integrative Ecology, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
PLoS One. 2016 Mar 23;11(3):e0150393. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150393. eCollection 2016.
Understanding the potential of animals to immediately respond to changing temperatures is imperative for predicting the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Ectothermic animals, such as insects, use behavioural thermoregulation to keep their body temperature within suitable limits. It may be particularly important at warm margins of species occurrence, where populations are sensitive to increasing air temperatures. In the field, we studied thermal requirements and behavioural thermoregulation in low-altitude populations of the Satyrinae butterflies Erebia aethiops, E. euryale and E. medusa. We compared the relationship of individual body temperature with air and microhabitat temperatures for the low-altitude Erebia species to our data on seven mountain species, including a high-altitude population of E. euryale, studied in the Alps. We found that the grassland butterfly E. medusa was well adapted to the warm lowland climate and it was active under the highest air temperatures and kept the highest body temperature of all species. Contrarily, the woodland species, E. aethiops and a low-altitude population of E. euryale, kept lower body temperatures and did not search for warm microclimates as much as other species. Furthermore, temperature-dependence of daily activities also differed between the three low-altitude and the mountain species. Lastly, the different responses to ambient temperature between the low- and high-altitude populations of E. euryale suggest possible local adaptations to different climates. We highlight the importance of habitat heterogeneity for long-term species survival, because it is expected to buffer climate change consequences by providing a variety of microclimates, which can be actively explored by adults. Alpine species can take advantage of warm microclimates, while low-altitude grassland species may retreat to colder microhabitats to escape heat, if needed. However, we conclude that lowland populations of woodland species may be more severely threatened by climate warming because of the unavailability of relatively colder microclimates.
了解动物对温度变化做出即时反应的潜力对于预测气候变化对生物多样性的影响至关重要。变温动物，如昆虫，利用行为体温调节将体温保持在适宜范围内。这在物种分布的温暖边缘可能尤为重要，因为在这些地方种群对气温升高很敏感。在野外，我们研究了眼蝶亚科蝴蝶艾氏珍眼蝶、宽环纹眼蝶和苔眉眼蝶低海拔种群的热需求和行为体温调节。我们将低海拔眼蝶物种的个体体温与空气温度和微生境温度之间的关系，与我们在阿尔卑斯山研究的包括宽环纹眼蝶高海拔种群在内的七种山地物种的数据进行了比较。我们发现，草原蝴蝶苔眉眼蝶很好地适应了温暖的低地气候，它在最高气温下仍很活跃，并且保持着所有物种中最高的体温。相反，林地物种艾氏珍眼蝶和宽环纹眼蝶的低海拔种群体温较低，不像其他物种那样频繁寻找温暖的小气候环境。此外，三种低海拔物种和山地物种的日常活动对温度的依赖性也有所不同。最后，宽环纹眼蝶低海拔和高海拔种群对环境温度的不同反应表明可能存在对不同气候的局部适应。我们强调栖息地异质性对物种长期生存的重要性，因为预计它可以通过提供各种小气候来缓冲气候变化的影响，成年个体可以积极探索这些小气候。高山物种可以利用温暖的小气候，而低海拔草原物种如果需要，可以退到较冷的微生境中躲避炎热。然而，我们得出结论，由于相对较冷的微气候环境难以获得，林地物种的低地种群可能更容易受到气候变暖的严重威胁。
