Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola

ABSTRACT Temperature regimes are changing at an unprecedented rate, leading to more intense, frequent, and prolonged extreme heat events. These conditions can undermine the performance of organisms during and after extreme events. Yet, our understanding of how different durations of extreme heat eve...

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Main Authors: Anouk Gremion, Madhav P. Thakur, Gerard Martínez‐De León
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-07-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71775
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author Anouk Gremion
Madhav P. Thakur
Gerard Martínez‐De León
author_facet Anouk Gremion
Madhav P. Thakur
Gerard Martínez‐De León
author_sort Anouk Gremion
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Temperature regimes are changing at an unprecedented rate, leading to more intense, frequent, and prolonged extreme heat events. These conditions can undermine the performance of organisms during and after extreme events. Yet, our understanding of how different durations of extreme heat events impact the reproductive traits of soil invertebrates is limited. Here, we experimentally tested how exposure to extreme heat (30°C–26°C, day–night) affects the reproductive recovery of two Collembola species, Folsomia candida (parthenogenetic) and Proisotoma minuta (sexually reproducing), originally reared for several generations at two different source temperatures (15°C and 20°C). We exposed these collembolans to extreme heat events of varying durations (0, 2, 4 or 8 days), and allowed them to recover for 2 days at their respective source temperatures. We then examined how reproductive traits (offspring production and egg sizes) were affected by previous exposure to extreme heat of varying duration. We predicted that prolonged heat events would have greater impacts on the reproductive traits of both Collembola species, particularly for collembolans raised in colder environments (due to lower acclimation to warming) and in traits related to offspring viability (due to their higher thermal sensitivity). Our results show that offspring production—number of eggs and hatchlings—declined with longer exposure to extreme heat in both species. Collembolans raised in the warmer environment had a steeper reduction in the number of eggs with longer exposure to heat, whereas those reared in the colder environment showed more marked reductions in the number of hatchlings (with declines of up to 99% in cold and 49% in warm rearing environments in F. candida), indicating heat‐induced reductions in egg viability. Overall, our results demonstrate that longer exposure to extreme heat reduces the reproductive success of collembolans, with larger fitness consequences for those from colder environments.
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spelling doaj-art-2bf1439d4d194e2ab54b58a8765400462025-08-20T03:58:44ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-07-01157n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71775Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in CollembolaAnouk Gremion0Madhav P. Thakur1Gerard Martínez‐De León2Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern SwitzerlandInstitute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern SwitzerlandInstitute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern SwitzerlandABSTRACT Temperature regimes are changing at an unprecedented rate, leading to more intense, frequent, and prolonged extreme heat events. These conditions can undermine the performance of organisms during and after extreme events. Yet, our understanding of how different durations of extreme heat events impact the reproductive traits of soil invertebrates is limited. Here, we experimentally tested how exposure to extreme heat (30°C–26°C, day–night) affects the reproductive recovery of two Collembola species, Folsomia candida (parthenogenetic) and Proisotoma minuta (sexually reproducing), originally reared for several generations at two different source temperatures (15°C and 20°C). We exposed these collembolans to extreme heat events of varying durations (0, 2, 4 or 8 days), and allowed them to recover for 2 days at their respective source temperatures. We then examined how reproductive traits (offspring production and egg sizes) were affected by previous exposure to extreme heat of varying duration. We predicted that prolonged heat events would have greater impacts on the reproductive traits of both Collembola species, particularly for collembolans raised in colder environments (due to lower acclimation to warming) and in traits related to offspring viability (due to their higher thermal sensitivity). Our results show that offspring production—number of eggs and hatchlings—declined with longer exposure to extreme heat in both species. Collembolans raised in the warmer environment had a steeper reduction in the number of eggs with longer exposure to heat, whereas those reared in the colder environment showed more marked reductions in the number of hatchlings (with declines of up to 99% in cold and 49% in warm rearing environments in F. candida), indicating heat‐induced reductions in egg viability. Overall, our results demonstrate that longer exposure to extreme heat reduces the reproductive success of collembolans, with larger fitness consequences for those from colder environments.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71775egg viabilityfecundityFolsomia candidaProisotoma minutarecoverywarming
spellingShingle Anouk Gremion
Madhav P. Thakur
Gerard Martínez‐De León
Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola
Ecology and Evolution
egg viability
fecundity
Folsomia candida
Proisotoma minuta
recovery
warming
title Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola
title_full Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola
title_fullStr Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola
title_full_unstemmed Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola
title_short Reproductive Costs Increase With Longer Extreme Heat Events in Collembola
title_sort reproductive costs increase with longer extreme heat events in collembola
topic egg viability
fecundity
Folsomia candida
Proisotoma minuta
recovery
warming
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71775
work_keys_str_mv AT anoukgremion reproductivecostsincreasewithlongerextremeheateventsincollembola
AT madhavpthakur reproductivecostsincreasewithlongerextremeheateventsincollembola
AT gerardmartinezdeleon reproductivecostsincreasewithlongerextremeheateventsincollembola