Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes
Basal metabolic rates (BMRs) increase with temperature and body mass. Environmental temperatures rapidly change in tropical mountains due to elevation (macro scale) and vegetation structure (micro scale). Thus, tropical mountains are good settings for testing the effects of temperature on BMRs. We m...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-11-01
|
| Series: | Diversity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/12/743 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850050389667217408 |
|---|---|
| author | Cornelio A. Bota-Sierra Adolfo Cordero-Rivera Rodolfo Novelo-Gutiérrez Melissa Sánchez-Herrera Gustavo A. Londoño |
| author_facet | Cornelio A. Bota-Sierra Adolfo Cordero-Rivera Rodolfo Novelo-Gutiérrez Melissa Sánchez-Herrera Gustavo A. Londoño |
| author_sort | Cornelio A. Bota-Sierra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Basal metabolic rates (BMRs) increase with temperature and body mass. Environmental temperatures rapidly change in tropical mountains due to elevation (macro scale) and vegetation structure (micro scale). Thus, tropical mountains are good settings for testing the effects of temperature on BMRs. We measured the BMRs at four temperature ranges on six territorial and closely related species of Rubyspot damselflies (<i>Hetaerina</i>, Calopterygidae), which also share very similar behavior and morphology and are segregated by habitat and elevation across the Western Colombian Andes. We analyzed the effects of body mass, habitat, elevation, temperature, and sex on their BMRs, using a phylogenetic framework. We found that the main factors regulating their niche partition seemed to be environmental temperature, body size, and BMR. We found differences in their BMRs related to elevation when the temperatures were close to those experienced by the damselflies at their elevational range. As predicted, the larger species associated with colder habitats, forests, and highlands had higher BMRs. However, at high stressful temperatures, only the body mass was positively related to the BMR, showing that smaller individuals can keep their BMRs lower under high temperatures compared to bigger ones. Habitat use was not associated with changes in the BMR. Finally, phylogenetic reconstruction showed all species clustered in three clades. Each clade in the phylogenetic tree shares similar habitat preferences, pointing to a mixture of evolutionary history, thermal adaptations, and body mass differences as a possible explanation for the great diversity of these damselflies in a small area. Under the global warming scenario, we expect Rubyspots with smaller body sizes to be favored since they will tolerate higher temperatures, which would ultimately lead to populations with smaller body sizes overall, which could negatively affect their fitness. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-780f559fbab64bfeb12fe57606443a55 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj-art-780f559fbab64bfeb12fe57606443a552025-08-20T02:53:29ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182024-11-01161274310.3390/d16120743Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western AndesCornelio A. Bota-Sierra0Adolfo Cordero-Rivera1Rodolfo Novelo-Gutiérrez2Melissa Sánchez-Herrera3Gustavo A. Londoño4Grupo de Entomología Universidad de Antioquia (GEUA), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin 050010, ColombiaECOEVO Lab, E.E. Forestal, Universidade de Vigo, Campus A Xunqueira, 36005 Pontevedra, SpainRed de Biodiversidad y Sistemática, Instituto de Ecología (INECOL A.C.), Xalapa 91073, MexicoEvolutionary Genetics, Phylogeography, and Ecology Research Group, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota 111321, ColombiaDepartamento de Ciencias Biológicas Bioprocesos y Biotecnología, Universidad ICESI, Cali 760031, ColombiaBasal metabolic rates (BMRs) increase with temperature and body mass. Environmental temperatures rapidly change in tropical mountains due to elevation (macro scale) and vegetation structure (micro scale). Thus, tropical mountains are good settings for testing the effects of temperature on BMRs. We measured the BMRs at four temperature ranges on six territorial and closely related species of Rubyspot damselflies (<i>Hetaerina</i>, Calopterygidae), which also share very similar behavior and morphology and are segregated by habitat and elevation across the Western Colombian Andes. We analyzed the effects of body mass, habitat, elevation, temperature, and sex on their BMRs, using a phylogenetic framework. We found that the main factors regulating their niche partition seemed to be environmental temperature, body size, and BMR. We found differences in their BMRs related to elevation when the temperatures were close to those experienced by the damselflies at their elevational range. As predicted, the larger species associated with colder habitats, forests, and highlands had higher BMRs. However, at high stressful temperatures, only the body mass was positively related to the BMR, showing that smaller individuals can keep their BMRs lower under high temperatures compared to bigger ones. Habitat use was not associated with changes in the BMR. Finally, phylogenetic reconstruction showed all species clustered in three clades. Each clade in the phylogenetic tree shares similar habitat preferences, pointing to a mixture of evolutionary history, thermal adaptations, and body mass differences as a possible explanation for the great diversity of these damselflies in a small area. Under the global warming scenario, we expect Rubyspots with smaller body sizes to be favored since they will tolerate higher temperatures, which would ultimately lead to populations with smaller body sizes overall, which could negatively affect their fitness.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/12/743thermoregulationmetabolic basal rateoxygen consumptiontemperatureforeststropical mountains |
| spellingShingle | Cornelio A. Bota-Sierra Adolfo Cordero-Rivera Rodolfo Novelo-Gutiérrez Melissa Sánchez-Herrera Gustavo A. Londoño Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes Diversity thermoregulation metabolic basal rate oxygen consumption temperature forests tropical mountains |
| title | Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes |
| title_full | Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes |
| title_fullStr | Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes |
| title_short | Can High Temperatures Affect Body Size in Insects? The Case of Rubyspot Damselflies in the Colombian Western Andes |
| title_sort | can high temperatures affect body size in insects the case of rubyspot damselflies in the colombian western andes |
| topic | thermoregulation metabolic basal rate oxygen consumption temperature forests tropical mountains |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/12/743 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cornelioabotasierra canhightemperaturesaffectbodysizeininsectsthecaseofrubyspotdamselfliesinthecolombianwesternandes AT adolfocorderorivera canhightemperaturesaffectbodysizeininsectsthecaseofrubyspotdamselfliesinthecolombianwesternandes AT rodolfonovelogutierrez canhightemperaturesaffectbodysizeininsectsthecaseofrubyspotdamselfliesinthecolombianwesternandes AT melissasanchezherrera canhightemperaturesaffectbodysizeininsectsthecaseofrubyspotdamselfliesinthecolombianwesternandes AT gustavoalondono canhightemperaturesaffectbodysizeininsectsthecaseofrubyspotdamselfliesinthecolombianwesternandes |