Meeting Abstract
Acartia tonsa occupy shallow coastal waters, characterized by regular and rapid fluctuations in water temperature. With climate change, mean water temperature and variance in temperature are expected to increase, leading to an increasingly variable environment. While there is evidence that environmental temperature impacts adult thermal tolerance in A. tonsa, it is not known if and how extreme temperature events during specific life stages impact adult thermal performance within and across generations. Here, we collected copepods from Penobscot Bay, Maine and allowed them to acclimate to lab conditions for one generation. We then exposed their offspring to short-term extreme temperature events during different stages of development. We assessed adult survival and fecundity of unexposed parents, F1 individuals after developmental temperature treatment, and F2 individuals held under control conditions throughout development. Survival and fecundity assessments were made at a range of temperatures so as to examine the influence of parental and developmental temperature on thermal performance curves. Preliminary results demonstrate that developmental temperature impacts adult thermal tolerance and the impacts of developmental temperature are specific to the life history stage exposed to the extreme temperature event.
