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<p>Evaluating the consequences of exposure to chronic warming on the performance and fitness of marine organisms is essential to predict population responses to climate change. Chronic warming can pose an energetic challenge, increasing maintenance costs with consequences for survival, growth, and reproduction. However, few studies have attempted to quantify fitness consequences directly, and how these differ between species. The aim of this study was to examine the changes in fitness components (survival, scope for growth (SfG), reproduction) under a chronic warming exposure period of eight weeks, in two congeneric gastropod species. We maintained snails, the oviparous <i>Littorina littorea</i> and the ovoviviparous <i>Littorina saxatilis</i>, at three temperatures (15&#xa0;°C, 18&#xa0;°C and 20.5&#xa0;°C), and measured survival, reproductive output, and adult energetic traits in order to calculate SfG. Chronic warming reduced energy budgets in both species, evidenced by SfG driven primarily by reduced absorption and increased excretion rates at elevated temperatures but fitness consequences differed markedly. <i>L. littorea</i> showed no change in survival among treatments but fecundity declined at 18&#xa0;°C and ceased entirely at 20.5&#xa0;°C. In contrast, <i>L. saxatilis</i> maintained fecundity across treatments but survival declined significantly with warming, particularly at 20.5&#xa0;°C. These results demonstrate temperature-intensity–dependent and species-specific trade-offs in these congeners, only evident when energy balance, reproduction, and survival were evaluated together. We propose that reproductive strategy shapes allocation under chronic thermal stress and show that evaluating multiple fitness components is essential to identify trade-offs that may constrain the long-term benefits of physiological plasticity in marine ectotherms.</p>

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Exposure to chronic warming affects fitness components differently in two congener gastropods

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月21日

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  • Ahmed S. A. Abbas,
  • Robert P. Ellis,
  • Michael Collins,
  • John I. Spicer,
  • Manuela Truebano

摘要

Evaluating the consequences of exposure to chronic warming on the performance and fitness of marine organisms is essential to predict population responses to climate change. Chronic warming can pose an energetic challenge, increasing maintenance costs with consequences for survival, growth, and reproduction. However, few studies have attempted to quantify fitness consequences directly, and how these differ between species. The aim of this study was to examine the changes in fitness components (survival, scope for growth (SfG), reproduction) under a chronic warming exposure period of eight weeks, in two congeneric gastropod species. We maintained snails, the oviparous Littorina littorea and the ovoviviparous Littorina saxatilis, at three temperatures (15 °C, 18 °C and 20.5 °C), and measured survival, reproductive output, and adult energetic traits in order to calculate SfG. Chronic warming reduced energy budgets in both species, evidenced by SfG driven primarily by reduced absorption and increased excretion rates at elevated temperatures but fitness consequences differed markedly. L. littorea showed no change in survival among treatments but fecundity declined at 18 °C and ceased entirely at 20.5 °C. In contrast, L. saxatilis maintained fecundity across treatments but survival declined significantly with warming, particularly at 20.5 °C. These results demonstrate temperature-intensity–dependent and species-specific trade-offs in these congeners, only evident when energy balance, reproduction, and survival were evaluated together. We propose that reproductive strategy shapes allocation under chronic thermal stress and show that evaluating multiple fitness components is essential to identify trade-offs that may constrain the long-term benefits of physiological plasticity in marine ectotherms.