Nicolai Annegret, Ansart Armelle
UMR CNRS 6553 EcoBio/OSUR, Station Biologique Paimpont, Université Rennes 1, 35380 Paimpont, France.
UMR CNRS 6553 EcoBio/OSUR, Université Rennes 1, 35042 Rennes cedex, France.
Conserv Physiol. 2017 Mar 18;5(1):cox007. doi: 10.1093/conphys/cox007. eCollection 2017.
The climate is changing rapidly, and terrestrial ectotherms are expected to be particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature and water regime, but also to an increase in extreme weather events in temperate regions. Physiological responses of terrestrial gastropods to climate change are poorly studied. This is surprising, because they are of biodiversity significance among litter-dwelling species, playing important roles in ecosystem function, with numerous species being listed as endangered and requiring efficient conservation management. Through a summary of our ecophysiological work on snail and slug species, we gained some insights into physiological and behavioural responses to climate change that we can organize into the following four threat categories. (i) Winter temperature and snow cover. Terrestrial gastropods use different strategies to survive sub-zero temperatures in buffered refuges, such as the litter or the soil. Absence of the insulating snow cover exposes species to high variability in temperature. The extent of specific cold tolerance might influence the potential of local extinction, but also of invasion. (ii) Drought and high temperature. Physiological responses involve high-cost processes that protect against heat and dehydration. Some species decrease activity periods, thereby reducing foraging and reproduction time. Related costs and physiological limits are expected to increase mortality. (iii) Extreme events. Although some terrestrial gastropod communities can have a good resilience to fire, storms and flooding, an increase in the frequency of those events might lead to community impoverishment. (iv) Habitat loss and fragmentation. Given that terrestrial gastropods are poorly mobile, landscape alteration generally results in an increased risk of local extinction, but responses are highly variable between species, requiring studies at the population level. There is a great need for studies involving non-invasive methods on the plasticity of physiological and behavioural responses and the ability for local adaptation, considering the spatiotemporally heterogeneous climatic landscape, to allow efficient management of ecosystems and conservation of biodiversity.
气候正在迅速变化,预计陆地变温动物将特别容易受到温度和水分状况变化的影响,同时也容易受到温带地区极端天气事件增加的影响。陆地腹足类动物对气候变化的生理反应研究较少。这令人惊讶,因为它们在栖息于枯枝落叶层的物种中具有生物多样性意义,在生态系统功能中发挥着重要作用,许多物种被列为濒危物种,需要有效的保护管理。通过总结我们对蜗牛和蛞蝓物种的生态生理学研究工作,我们对气候变化的生理和行为反应有了一些见解,可将其归纳为以下四类威胁。(i)冬季温度和积雪覆盖。陆地腹足类动物采用不同策略在诸如枯枝落叶层或土壤等缓冲避难所中度过零下温度。缺乏隔热的积雪覆盖使物种面临温度的高度变异性。特定耐寒能力的程度可能影响局部灭绝的可能性,也影响入侵的可能性。(ii)干旱和高温。生理反应涉及抵御高温和脱水的高成本过程。一些物种缩短活动期,从而减少觅食和繁殖时间。相关成本和生理极限预计会增加死亡率。(iii)极端事件。尽管一些陆地腹足类动物群落对火灾、风暴和洪水具有良好的恢复力,但这些事件频率的增加可能导致群落贫化。(iv)栖息地丧失和破碎化。鉴于陆地腹足类动物移动性较差,景观改变通常会导致局部灭绝风险增加,但不同物种的反应差异很大,需要在种群水平上进行研究。考虑到时空异质的气候景观,迫切需要开展涉及非侵入性方法的研究,以了解生理和行为反应的可塑性以及局部适应能力,从而实现生态系统的有效管理和生物多样性的保护。