Phenotypic plasticity underlies seasonal and latitudinal variation in thermal tolerance in a native bee.

Climate change threatens biodiversity and ecosystem services around the globe. Despite the importance of native bees as pollinators, there is evidence of global declines, and we know very little about how climate shapes their distributions now and into the future. In the current study, we combined large-scale seasonal field sampling and experimental acclimation to examine whether populations of an Australian bee, Exoneura robusta, vary in their capacity to adapt to different climates.

Variation in temperature but not diet determines the stability of latitudinal clines in tolerance traits and their plasticity.

Latitudinal clines are routinely used as evidence of adaptation across broad climatic gradients. However, if environmental variation influences the strength of latitudinal clines, then clinal patterns will be unstable, and using patterns of adaptation to predict population responses to global change will be difficult. To test whether environmental variation influences latitudinal clines, we sampled five populations of spanning 3000 km of east coast Australia, and measured stress tolerance (heat, cold and desiccation) and body size on flies that developed in six combinations of temperature (13°C, 25°C and 29°C) and diet (standard and low-calorie) treatments.

A Framework for Modelling Thermal Load Sensitivity Across Life.

Forecasts of vulnerability to climate warming require an integrative understanding of how species are exposed to, are damaged by, and recover from thermal stress in natural environments. The sensitivity of species to temperature depends on the frequency, duration, and magnitude of thermal stress. Thus, there is a generally recognized need to move beyond physiological metrics based solely on critical thermal limits and integrate them with natural heat exposure regimes.

Cultural influences on fidelity components in recovery colleges: a study across 28 countries and territories.

Background: Recovery colleges (RCs) support personal recovery through education, skill development and social support for people with mental health problems, carers and staff. Guided by co-production and adult learning principles, RCs represent a recent mental health innovation. Since the first RC opened in England in 2009, RCs have expanded to 28 countries and territories.

Temperature and precipitation explain variation in metabolic rate but not frequency of gas exchange in Fijian bees.

Temperature and water availability are hypothesised to be important drivers of the evolution of metabolic rate and gas exchange patterns, respectively. Specifically, the metabolic cold adaptation (MCA) hypothesis predicts that cold environments select for faster temperature-specific metabolic rates to counter the thermodynamics of biochemical reactions, while the hygric hypothesis predicts that dry environments select for discontinuous gas exchange to reduce water loss. Although these two hypotheses consider different physiological traits and how they vary along different abiotic gradients, metabolic rate drives the frequency of gas exchange in insects meaning these two traits are inherently linked.

Understanding the experiences of family, friends and carers attending Recovery Colleges: focus group study.

Background: Family and friends (family carers) provide substantial support to those with mental ill health, often affecting their own well-being. Subsequently, family carers have their own recovery journeys. Research highlights numerous benefits of attending Recovery Colleges, but whether these apply for family carers remains unexplored.

Applying Critical Discourse Analysis to Cross-Cultural Mental Health Recovery Research.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how critical discourse analysis (CDA) frameworks can be used in cross-cultural mental health recovery research. CDA is a qualitative approach that critically appraises how language contributes to producing and reinforcing social inequalities. CDA regards linguistic productions as reflecting, consciously or unconsciously, the narrators' understandings of, or attitudes about, phenomena.

Olanzapine for young PEople with aNorexia nervosa (OPEN): results of a feasibility study.

Background: Despite the availability of evidence-based treatments for anorexia nervosa (AN), remission rates are moderate, and mortality is high. Olanzapine is used as adjunct therapy for AN in case of insufficient response to first-line treatments, even though the evidence is limited. Its effect on eating disorder (ED) psychopathology, its efficacy and tolerability, and its acceptability and adherence rate are unclear.

A feasibility trial of olanzapine for young people with Anorexia Nervosa (OPEN): clinicians' perspectives.

Background: The OPEN feasibility trial testing olanzapine in anorexia nervosa (AN) in young people (YP) was not successful due to poor recruitment. This study aims to understand clinicians' views and experiences of using olanzapine in AN and the challenges in implementing the trial in National Health Service (NHS) clinical settings.

Methods: We conducted qualitative interviews with eating disorders (ED) clinicians involved with the study (n = 11).

Exploration of parental consent for adolescent involvement in genital body image education research.

Genital body image is a highly understudied concept but is important for sexual health and broader body image satisfaction. Effective genital body image interventions for adolescents have been developed, however, parental consent can be a barrier to adolescent participation. The aim of this study was to conduct a novel exploration of parental consent for genital body image education research and factors related to this consent.

Threshold shifts and developmental temperature impact trade-offs between tolerance and plasticity.

Mounting evidence suggests that ectotherms are already living close to their upper physiological thermal limits. Phenotypic plasticity has been proposed to reduce the impact of climate change in the short-term providing time for adaptation, but the tolerance-plasticity trade-off hypothesis predicts organisms with higher tolerance have lower plasticity. Empirical evidence is mixed, which may be driven by methodological issues such as statistical artefacts, nonlinear reaction norms, threshold shifts or selection.

Olanzapine for young PEople with aNorexia nervosa (OPEN): A protocol for an open-label feasibility study.

Introduction: Antipsychotics are routinely prescribed off-label for anorexia nervosa (AN) despite limited evidence. This article presents a protocol of a study aiming to assess the feasibility of a future definitive trial on olanzapine in young people with AN.

Methods And Analysis: In an open-label, one-armed feasibility study, 55 patients with AN or atypical AN, aged 12-24, receiving outpatient, inpatient or day-care treatment who are considered for olanzapine treatment will be recruited from NHS sites based in England.

Vulnerability to climate change increases with trophic level in terrestrial organisms.

The resilience of ecosystem function under global climate change is governed by individual species vulnerabilities and the functional groups they contribute to (e.g. decomposition, primary production, pollination, primary, secondary and tertiary consumption).

Phylogenetic and environmental patterns of sex differentiation in physiological traits across Drosophila species.

Sex-based differences in physiological traits may be influenced by both evolutionary and environmental factors. Here we used male and female flies from >80 Drosophila species reared under common conditions to examine variance in a number of physiological traits including size, starvation, desiccation and thermal tolerance. Sex-based differences for desiccation and starvation resistance were comparable in magnitude to those for size, with females tending to be relatively more resistant than males.

Climate change and invasive species: a physiological performance comparison of invasive and endemic bees in Fiji.

Anthropogenic climate change and invasive species are two of the greatest threats to biodiversity, affecting the survival, fitness and distribution of many species around the globe. Invasive species are often expected to have broad thermal tolerance, be highly plastic, or have high adaptive potential when faced with novel environments. Tropical island ectotherms are expected to be vulnerable to climate change as they often have narrow thermal tolerance and limited plasticity.

Phenotypic Plasticity for Desiccation Resistance, Climate Change, and Future Species Distributions: Will Plasticity Have Much Impact?

AbstractWhile species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to predict the vulnerability of species to climate change, they do not explicitly indicate the extent to which plastic responses ameliorate climate change impacts. Here we use data on plastic responses of 32 species of to desiccation stress to suggest that basal resistance, rather than adult hardening, is relatively more important in determining species differences in desiccation resistance and sensitivity to climate change. We go on to show, using the semimechanistic SDM CLIMEX, that the inclusion of plasticity has some impact on current species distributions and future vulnerability for widespread species but has little impact on the distribution of arguably more vulnerable tropically restricted species.

Does Plasticity Trade Off With Basal Heat Tolerance?

Studies suggest that many species are already living close to their upper physiological thermal limits. Phenotypic plasticity is thought to be an important mechanism for species to counter rapid environmental change, yet the extent to which plastic responses may buffer projected climate change - and what limits the evolution of plasticity - is still unclear. The tolerance-plasticity trade-off hypothesis predicts that the evolution of plasticity may be constrained by a species' thermal tolerance.

Evolution and plasticity of thermal performance: an analysis of variation in thermal tolerance and fitness in 22 Drosophila species.

The thermal biology of ectotherms is often used to infer species' responses to changes in temperature. It is often proposed that temperate species are more cold-tolerant, less heat-tolerant, more plastic, have broader thermal performance curves (TPCs) and lower optimal temperatures when compared to tropical species. However, relatively little empirical work has provided support for this using large interspecific studies.

Comparing thermal performance curves across traits: how consistent are they?

Thermal performance curves (TPCs) are intended to approximate the relationship between temperature and fitness, and are commonly integrated into species distributional models for understanding climate change responses. However, TPCs may vary across traits because selection and environmental sensitivity (plasticity) differ across traits or because the timing and duration of the temperature exposure, here termed time scale, may alter trait variation. Yet, the extent to which TPCs vary temporally and across traits is rarely considered in assessments of climate change responses.

Evidence for lower plasticity in CT at warmer developmental temperatures.

Understanding the capacity for different species to reduce their susceptibility to climate change via phenotypic plasticity is essential for accurately predicting species extinction risk. The climatic variability hypothesis suggests that spatial and temporal variation in climatic variables should select for more plastic phenotypes. However, empirical support for this hypothesis is limited.

Plasticity for desiccation tolerance across species is affected by phylogeny and climate in complex ways.

Comparative analyses of ectotherm susceptibility to climate change often focus on thermal extremes, yet responses to aridity may be equally important. Here we focus on plasticity in desiccation resistance, a key trait shaping distributions of species and other small ectotherms. We examined the extent to which 32 species, varying in their distribution, could increase their desiccation resistance via phenotypic plasticity involving hardening, linking these responses to environment, phylogeny and basal resistance.

How important is thermal history? Evidence for lasting effects of developmental temperature on upper thermal limits in .

A common practice in thermal biology is to take individuals directly from the field and estimate a range of thermal traits. These estimates are then used in studies aiming to understand broad scale distributional patterns, understanding and predicting the evolution of phenotypic plasticity, and generating predictions for climate change risk. However, the use of field-caught individuals in such studies ignores the fact that many traits are phenotypically plastic and will be influenced by the thermal history of the focal individuals.

Metabolic cold adaptation contributes little to the interspecific variation in metabolic rates of 65 species of Drosophilidae.

Metabolic cold adaptation (MCA) is a controversial hypothesis suggesting that cold adapted species display an elevated metabolic rate (MR) compared to their warm climate relatives. Here we test for the presence of MCA in 65 species of drosophilid flies reared under common garden conditions. MR was measured at both 10 and 20°C for both sexes and data were analyzed in relation to the natural thermal environment of these species.

Incorporating evolutionary adaptation in species distribution modelling reduces projected vulnerability to climate change.

Based on the sensitivity of species to ongoing climate change, and numerous challenges they face tracking suitable conditions, there is growing interest in species' capacity to adapt to climatic stress. Here, we develop and apply a new generic modelling approach (AdaptR) that incorporates adaptive capacity through physiological limits, phenotypic plasticity, evolutionary adaptation and dispersal into a species distribution modelling framework. Using AdaptR to predict change in the distribution of 17 species of Australian fruit flies (Drosophilidae), we show that accounting for adaptive capacity reduces projected range losses by up to 33% by 2105.

Experimental Evolution under Fluctuating Thermal Conditions Does Not Reproduce Patterns of Adaptive Clinal Differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster.

Experimental evolution can be a useful tool for testing the impact of environmental factors on adaptive changes in populations, and this approach is being increasingly used to understand the potential for evolutionary responses in populations under changing climates. However, selective factors will often be more complex in natural populations than in laboratory environments and produce different patterns of adaptive differentiation. Here we test the ability of laboratory experimental evolution under different temperature cycles to reproduce well-known patterns of clinal variation in Drosophila melanogaster.