Meeting Abstract
P1.56 Thursday, Jan. 3 Acute and persistent effects of incubation and post-embryonic thermal environments on hatchling metabolic rate in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta LIGON, D B*; PETERSON, C C; LOVERN, M B; Oklahoma State University; Hofstra University; Oklahoma State University day.ligon@okstate.edu
Many ectotherms are tolerant to a wide range of thermal conditions. However, long-term exposure to different thermal conditions may induce temperature acclimation, and the developmental stage during which temperature exposure occurs may affect the direction, degree, and persistence of the effects. We incubated Trachemys scripta embryos at different constant temperatures (Tinc = 26.5, 28.5, 30.5° C), and then reared the resulting hatchlings at two different water temperatures (Twater = 25, 30° C). We then assessed short- and long-term effects of temperature by measuring resting metabolic rate (MR; oxygen consumption) shortly after hatching and six-months post-hatching. MR was measured at three temperatures (Tbody = 26.5, 28.5, 30.5° C). Hatchling MRs were highest among turtles incubated at 26.5, intermediate among those from 28.5, and lowest among those from 30.5° C at all Tbodys, a pattern consistent with positive metabolic compensation to Tinc. MRs measured six-months after hatching exhibited a strong response to Twater consistent with positive metabolic compensation. However, within each Twater treatment, MR patterns among Tincs followed a pattern consistent with inverse metabolic compensation to Tinc. Our results concerning age-dependent variation in metabolic compensation are similar to previous reports of Tinc effects at hatching and after six months, but suggest a complex interaction between organizational effects of temperature during embryonic development and chronic acclimation to Twater after hatching.
