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Dietary lipid quality affects temperature-mediated reaction norms of a freshwater key herbivore

  • Physiological ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Temperature-mediated plasticity in life history traits strongly affects the capability of ectotherms to cope with changing environmental temperatures. We hypothesised that temperature-mediated reaction norms of ectotherms are constrained by the availability of essential dietary lipids, i.e. polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and sterols, as these lipids are involved in the homeoviscous adaptation of biological membranes to changing temperatures. A life history experiment was conducted in which the freshwater herbivore Daphnia magna was raised at four different temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25°C) with food sources differing in their PUFA and sterol composition. Somatic growth rates increased significantly with increasing temperature, but differences among food sources were obtained only at 10°C at which animals grew better on PUFA-rich diets than on PUFA-deficient diets. PUFA-rich food sources resulted in significantly higher population growth rates at 10°C than PUFA-deficient food, and the optimum temperature for offspring production was clearly shifted towards colder temperatures with an increased availability of dietary PUFA. Supplementation of PUFA-deficient food with single PUFA enabled the production of viable offspring and significantly increased population growth rates at 10°C, indicating that dietary PUFA are crucial for the acclimation to cold temperatures. In contrast, cumulative numbers of viable offspring increased significantly upon cholesterol supplementation at 25°C and the optimum temperature for offspring production was shifted towards warmer temperatures, implying that sterol requirements increase with temperature. In conclusion, essential dietary lipids significantly affect temperature-mediated reaction norms of ectotherms and thus temperature-mediated plasticity in life history traits is subject to strong food quality constraints.

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Acknowledgments

We thank P. Merkel for technical assistance. E. Sperfeld and N. Schlotz provided valuable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limnological Institute, University of Constance, Mainaustrasse 252, 78464, Constance, Germany

    Dominik Martin-Creuzburg & Christine Ziese

  2. Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, Theoretical Aquatic Ecology, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 2, 14469, Potsdam, Germany

    Alexander Wacker

  3. WasserCluster—Biological Station Lunz, Dr. Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5, 3293, Lunz am See, Austria

    Martin J. Kainz

Authors
  1. Dominik Martin-Creuzburg
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  2. Alexander Wacker
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  3. Christine Ziese
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  4. Martin J. Kainz
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Correspondence to Dominik Martin-Creuzburg.

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Communicated by Carla Caceres.

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Martin-Creuzburg, D., Wacker, A., Ziese, C. et al. Dietary lipid quality affects temperature-mediated reaction norms of a freshwater key herbivore. Oecologia 168, 901–912 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2155-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2155-1

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