Abstract
BackgroundPredicting effects of rapid climate change on populations depends on measuring the effects of climate stressors on performance, and potential for adaptation. Adaptation to stressful climatic conditions requires heritable genetic variance for stress tolerance present in populations.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe quantified genetic variation in tolerance of early development of the ecologically important sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii to near-future (2100) ocean conditions projected for the southeast Australian global change hot spot. Multiple dam-sire crosses were used to quantify the interactive effects of warming (+2–4°C) and acidification (−0.3−0.5 pH units) across twenty-seven family lines. Acidification, but not temperature, decreased the percentage of cleavage stage embryos. In contrast, temperature, but not acidification decreased the percentage of gastrulation. Cleavage success in response to both stressors was strongly affected by sire identity. Sire and dam identity significantly affected gastrulation and both interacted with temperature to determine developmental success. Positive genetic correlations for gastrulation indicated that genotypes that did well at lower pH also did well in higher temperatures.Conclusions/SignificanceSignificant genotype (sire) by environment interactions for both stressors at gastrulation indicated the presence of heritable variation in thermal tolerance and the ability of embryos to respond to changing environments. The significant influence of dam may be due to maternal provisioning (maternal genotype or environment) and/or offspring genotype. It appears that early development in this ecologically important sea urchin is not constrained in adapting to the multiple stressors of ocean warming and acidification. The presence of tolerant genotypes indicates the potential to adapt to concurrent warming and acidification, contributing to the resilience of C. rodgersii in a changing ocean.
Highlights
Predicting the effects of a rapidly changing climate on natural populations depends on measuring the effects of climate stressors on performance and distribution, and on the likelihood of adaptation to those stressors
Evolutionary adaptation to climatic stressors will depend on the levels of heritable genetic variation for tolerance to these stressors existing in current populations among other factors such as strength of selection, demographic factors and genetic correlations [2]
Using a quantitative genetic framework aimed at detecting genotype by environment (G6E) interactions in the context of climate change, we found that the tolerance of the progeny of an ecologically important sea urchin, Centrostephanus rodgersii, to increased temperature varied significantly among genotypes and that sire effects were important for success in both cleavage and gastrula stages in response to warming and acidification
Summary
Predicting the effects of a rapidly changing climate on natural populations depends on measuring the effects of climate stressors on performance and distribution, and on the likelihood of adaptation to those stressors. Empirical data on the evolutionary potential of a wide range of species are needed to determine the potential for adaptation to climatic change [2,7] This is true for marine biota for which there is a paucity of data on the potential of populations to genetically adapt to climate-driven change in ocean conditions [8]. Predicting effects of rapid climate change on populations depends on measuring the effects of climate stressors on performance, and potential for adaptation. Adaptation to stressful climatic conditions requires heritable genetic variance for stress tolerance present in populations
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