Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment

Pilakouta, N. , Killen, S. S. , Kristjánsson, B. K., Skúlason, S., Lindström, J. , Metcalfe, N. B. and Parsons, K. J. (2023) Geothermal stickleback populations prefer cool water despite multigenerational exposure to a warm environment. Ecology and Evolution, 13(1), e9654. (doi: 10.1002/ece3.9654) (PMID:36644700) (PMCID:PMC9831902)

Abstract

Given the threat of climate change to biodiversity, a growing number of studies are investigating the potential for organisms to adapt to rising temperatures. Earlier work has predicted that physiological adaptation to climate change will be accompanied by a shift in temperature preferences, but empirical evidence for this is lacking. Here, we test whether exposure to different thermal environments has led to changes in preferred temperatures in the wild. Our study takes advantage of a “natural experiment” in Iceland, where freshwater populations of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are found in waters warmed by geothermal activity year-round (warm habitats), adjacent to populations in ambient-temperature lakes (cold habitats). We used a shuttle-box approach to measure temperature preferences of wild-caught sticklebacks from three warm–cold population pairs. Our prediction was that fish from warm habitats would prefer higher water temperatures than those from cold habitats. We found no support for this, as fish from both warm and cold habitats had an average preferred temperature of 13°C. Thus, our results challenge the assumption that there will be a shift in ectotherm temperature preferences in response to climate change. In addition, since warm-habitat fish can persist at relatively high temperatures despite a lower-temperature preference, we suggest that preferred temperature alone may be a poor indicator of a population's adaptive potential to a novel thermal environment.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Metcalfe, Professor Neil and Kristjansson, Professor Bjarni and Pilakouta, Dr Natalie and Lindstrom, Dr Jan and Killen, Professor Shaun and Parsons, Dr Kevin

Creator Roles

Pilakouta, N.: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Killen, S. S.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review and editing
Kristjánsson, B. K.: Resources, Writing – review and editing
Lindström, J.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review and editing
Metcalfe, N. B.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review and editing
Parsons, K. J.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Pilakouta, N., Killen, S. S., Kristjánsson, B. K., Skúlason, S., Lindström, J., Metcalfe, N. B., and Parsons, K. J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Ecology and Evolution
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 2045-7758
• ISSN (Online): 2045-7758
• Published Online: 10 January 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Ecology and Evolution 13(1): e9654
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
• Data DOI: 10.5061/dryad.n2z34tn14.s

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
172724		The predictability and limits of evolution to increased temperature: insights from a natural 'experiment'	Kevin Parsons	Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)	NE/N016734/1	Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine