Adaptive evolution shapes the present-day distribution of the thermal sensitivity of population growth rate.

ABSTRACT: Developing a thorough understanding of how ectotherm physiology adapts to different thermal environments is of crucial importance, especially in the face of global climate change. A key aspect of an organism's thermal performance curve (TPC)-the relationship between fitness-related trait performance and temperature-is its thermal sensitivity, i.e., the rate at which trait values increase with temperature within its typically experienced thermal range. For a given trait, the distribution of thermal sensitivities across species, often quantified as "activation energy" values, is typically right-skewed. Currently, the mechanisms that generate this distribution are unclear, with considerable debate about the role of thermodynamic constraints versus adaptive evolution. Here, using a phylogeneti

SUBMITTER: Kontopoulos DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7592915 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature