Inter-population Differences In Response Research Articles

Effect of environmental history on the habitat-forming kelp Macrocystis pyrifera responses to ocean acidification and warming: a physiological and molecular approach

The capacity of marine organisms to adapt and/or acclimate to climate change might differ among distinct populations, depending on their local environmental history and phenotypic plasticity. Kelp forests create some of the most productive habitats in the world, but globally, many populations have been negatively impacted by multiple anthropogenic stressors. Here, we compare the physiological and molecular responses to ocean acidification (OA) and warming (OW) of two populations of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera from distinct upwelling conditions (weak vs strong). Using laboratory mesocosm experiments, we found that juvenile Macrocystis sporophyte responses to OW and OA did not differ among populations: elevated temperature reduced growth while OA had no effect on growth and photosynthesis. However, we observed higher growth rates and NO3− assimilation, and enhanced expression of metabolic-genes involved in the NO3− and CO2 assimilation in individuals from the strong upwelling site. Our results suggest that despite no inter-population differences in response to OA and OW, intrinsic differences among populations might be related to their natural variability in CO2, NO3− and seawater temperatures driven by coastal upwelling. Further work including additional populations and fluctuating climate change conditions rather than static values are needed to precisely determine how natural variability in environmental conditions might influence a species’ response to climate change.

Sperm motility of oysters from distinct populations differs in response to ocean acidification and freshening

Species’ responses to climate change will reflect variability in the effects of physiological selection that future conditions impose. Here, we considered the effects of ocean acidification (increases in pCO2; 606, 925, 1250 µatm) and freshening (reductions in salinity; 33, 23, 13 PSU) on sperm motility in oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from two populations (one recently invaded, one established for 60+ years). Freshening reduced sperm motility in the established population, but this was offset by a positive effect of acidification. Freshening also reduced sperm motility in the recently invaded population, but acidification had no effect. Response direction, strength, and variance differed among individuals within each population. For the established population, freshening increased variance in sperm motility, and exposure to both acidification and freshening modified the performance rank of males (i.e. rank motility of sperm). In contrast, for the recently invaded population, freshening caused a smaller change in variance, and male performance rank was broadly consistent across treatments. That inter-population differences in response may be related to environmental history (recently invaded, or established), indicates this could influence scope for selection and adaptation. These results highlight the need to consider variation within and among population responses to forecast effects of multiple environmental change drivers.

Extreme heterogeneity of population response to climatic variation and the limits of prediction.

Certain general facets of biotic response to climate change, such as shifts in phenology and geographic distribution, are well characterized; however, it is not clear whether the observed similarity of responses across taxa will extend to variation in other population-level processes. We examined population response to climatic variation using long-term incidence data (collected over 42years) encompassing 149 butterfly species and considerable habitat diversity (10 sites along an elevational gradient from sea level to over 2,700m in California). Population responses were characterized by extreme heterogeneity that was not attributable to differences in species composition among sites. These results indicate that habitat heterogeneity might be a buffer against climate change and highlight important questions about mechanisms maintaining interpopulation differences in responses to weather. Despite overall heterogeneity of response, population dynamics were accurately predicted by our model for many species at each site. However, the overall correlation between observed and predicted incidence in a cross validation analysis was moderate (Pearson's r=0.23, SE 0.01), and 97% of observed data fell within the predicted 95% credible intervals. Prediction was most successful for more abundant species as well as for sites with lower annual turnover. Population-level heterogeneity in response to climate variation and the limits of our predictive power highlight the challenges for a future of increasing climatic variability.

Pharmacogenetics in Africa, an Opportunity for Appropriate Drug Dosage Regimens: on the Road to Personalized Healthcare

The modern human appeared in Africa around 200,000 years ago with subsequent later migrations to populate Europe, Asia, and North America.1 As humans adapted to various diets, diseases, climates, and so on, inherited traits emerged that gave rise to distinct population groups with physical and physiological differences, including the response to xenobiotic challenges (Figure 1). This Perspective highlights the interpopulation differences in response to drugs focusing on Africa and implications for global pharmacometric studies.CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology (2013) 2, e45; doi:10.1038/psp.2013.17; advance online publication 29 May 2013