RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cold tolerance of mountain stoneflies (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) from the high Rocky Mountains
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.06.25.171934
DO 10.1101/2020.06.25.171934
A1 Scott Hotaling
A1 Alisha A. Shah
A1 Michael E. Dillon
A1 J. Joseph Giersch
A1 Lusha M. Tronstad
A1 Debra S. Finn
A1 H. Arthur Woods
A1 Joanna L. Kelley
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/26/2020.06.25.171934.abstract
AB How aquatic insects cope with cold temperatures is poorly understood. This is particularly true for high-elevation species that often experience a seasonal risk of freezing. In the Rocky Mountains, nemourid stoneflies (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) are a major component of mountain stream biodiversity and are typically found in streams fed by glaciers and snowfields, which due to climate change, are rapidly receding. Predicting the effects of climate change on mountain stoneflies is difficult because their thermal physiology is largely unknown. We investigated cold tolerance of several alpine stoneflies (Lednia tumana, Lednia tetonica, and Zapada spp.) from the Rocky Mountains, USA. We measured the supercooling point (SCP) and tolerance to ice enclosure of late-instar nymphs collected from a range of thermal regimes. SCPs varied among species and populations, with the lowest SCP measured for nymphs from an alpine pond, which is much more likely to freeze solid in winter than flowing streams. We also show that L. tumana cannot survive being enclosed in ice, even for short periods of time (less than three hours) at relatively mild temperatures (−0.5 °C). Our results indicate that high-elevation stoneflies at greater risk of freezing may have correspondingly lower SCPs, and despite their common association with glacial meltwater, they appear to be living near their lower thermal limits.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.