Telfer Mark G, Hassall Mark
Biological Records Centre, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, PE17 2LS, UK e-mail:
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK, , , , , , GB.
Oecologia. 1999 Nov;121(2):245-254. doi: 10.1007/s004420050926.
Life history variations among 27 populations of the grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus from around the British Isles were examined under laboratory conditions over three generations. Multiple-regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between grasshopper life histories and the climates of their ancestral sites. Grasshoppers from cooler sites were heavier at hatching. Grasshoppers from northern sites grew faster and developed through fewer instars, attaining adulthood earlier, at the expense of adult size. Depending on the measure of adult size used, adults were larger in warmer, sunnier or more southerly locations. Ecotypic differentiation is probably widespread among animals as it is among plants, though it is more rarely demonstrated by zoological studies, especially over the wide geographical scale covered here. Evidence from regression analysis supports the hypothesis that ecotypic differentiation in C. brunneus is an evolutionary response to climatic variation. The existence of intraspecific genetic diversity for climatic adaptations has implications for biodiversity conservation and the understanding of biotic responses to climatic change. It deserves wider recognition.
在实验室条件下，对来自不列颠群岛周边的27个 brunneus 草蜢种群三代间的生活史变化进行了研究。采用多元回归分析来检验草蜢生活史与其原生地气候之间的关系。来自较凉爽地区的草蜢孵化时体重更重。来自北方地区的草蜢生长更快，发育历期更短，成年更早，但成年个体大小会减小。根据所采用的成年个体大小衡量标准，成年个体在温暖、阳光充足或更靠南的地区更大。生态型分化可能在动物中与在植物中一样普遍存在，尽管动物学研究较少证明这一点，尤其是在本文所涵盖的广泛地理尺度上。回归分析的证据支持了 brunneus 草蜢生态型分化是对气候变化的一种进化响应这一假设。气候适应性种内遗传多样性的存在对生物多样性保护以及理解生物对气候变化的响应具有重要意义。它值得更广泛的认可。
