Turbellarian taxonomic database

Record # 23257
Author
Title
Journal
Clayton KA, Spicer JL (2020)
Evidence for physiological niche expansion of an intertidal flatworm: evolutionary rescue in the wild.
Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol 651: 85-95

Abstract / Notes

"Microevolution may enable populations to adapt physiologically to rapid climate change. Where it exists,
historical data could provide a rare opportunity to document such adaptation. The intertidal flatworm
Procerodes littoralis experiences large changes in salinity throughout the tidal cycle. We investigated
whether regeneration performance of P. littoralis has changed over the last century. We repeated identical
experiments to those published in 1914 on the same species and from the same location. In the modern
experiment, when tested across a range of different salinities (S = 3, 6, 28, 44 and 53), P. littoralis could
regenerate at lower salinities (S = 3) than reported previously. Also in the modern study, no significant
optimum salinity could be identified, whereas in 1914 the optimum salinity (S = 28.5) was clear. The
possibility of differences resulting from acclimation or oxygen availability instead of adaptation was
investigated and discounted. It would appear that individuals from this population have extended their
tolerance performance range further into hyposaline waters in the intervening 104 yr since the previous study.
Local climate change is suggested to be the microevolution driver, as mean daily precipitation has increased
and the number of days per year with no/trace precipitation has decreased in Plymouth, UK. Climate change is
often considered a global phenomenon, but it drives local regime shifts. Here, we suggest an evolutionary
shift attributable to a century-long local change in precipitation."

Return to taxon listing




taxon:

Home page -- (Main hierarchy)