Fertility and mortality impacts of thermal stress from experimental heatwaves on different life stages and their recovery in a model insect.

ABSTRACT: With climate change creating a more volatile atmosphere, heatwaves that create thermal stress for living systems will become stronger and more frequent. Using the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, we measure the impacts of thermal stress from experimental heatwaves in the laboratory on reproduction and survival across different insect life stages, and the extent and pace of any recovery. We exposed larvae, pupae, juvenile and mature adult male beetles to 5-day periods of heat stress where temperatures were maintained at either 40°C or 42°C, a few degrees above the 35°C optimum for this species' population productivity, and then measured survival and reproduction compared with controls at 30°C. Mortality due to thermal stress was greatest among juvenile life stages. Male reproductive

SUBMITTER: Sales K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8074959 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature