Climatic adaptation

Climate adaptation refers to specific adaptations in a living organism that develop in response to changes in climate and habitat. Such adaptations could include physical changes, such as skin or fur color and composition changes, or the adaptations could be behavioral, such as burrowing into the ground or spending more time in water. These are not necessarily permanently expressed traits, instead encompassing the potential for the individual to adapt to certain environments. The change in the environment triggers a change in behavior which would not have been present had the organism not been exposed to that specific stimuli. Climate adaptation is constrained by the genetic variability of the species in question.^[1]

Measuring Climate Adaptation

Generally, the experimental measure of climate adaptation is conducted by exposing an experimental population to different environmental stimuli. Successful studies outside of a laboratory setting take place in locations with a variable annual climate. Areas where annual temperature and weather extremes vary greatly can give insight into the climate adaptability of organisms that live there.^[2] Tropical or arctic microclimates, for example, would be ideal settings for experimentation, as annual temperature and weather can vary greatly. Additionally, laboratory settings could work with certain creatures that have defense mechanisms for certain environmental changes, such as Drosophila's chill-coma adaptation.^[3]

The population's performance or behavior can then be plotted against the ecological-climatic factor being tested. High changes in individual behavior in response to a change in environment point to the conclusion that the population has high climate adaptability. Adaptation lag can occur when local populations perform significantly better than populations from other environments; however, this lag can be compensated for if the species in question has very high genetic diversity.

Examples

Many species have varying levels of climatic adaptation. Differing average annual temperatures can have varying effects on a population's average body temperature, metabolic rate, or body size. But the actual effect of climatic adaptation depends greatly on the species in question and often the amount of genetic variability within that species.

• The bodies of some animals, such as woodrats, are inversely correlated with the mean annual temperature of their environment.^[4] This is an applied example of Bergmann's rule.
• Drosophila species sometimes have to face cold stress to survive in their present climate. They have developed chill-coma tolerance, a major climatic adaptation which allows them to quickly recover from a cold-induced comatose state.^[5]
• Many arctic birds and mammals can change their heat dissipation and metabolic rate in response to changes in temperature, as different populations of the same species display different averages depending on their current climate.^[6]

See also

• Adaptation to global warming, ways social and biological systems can respond to climate change to reduce their vulnerability to its effects
• Climate change
• Evolution
• Evolutionary biology
• Melanism, in relation to “industrial melanism”

References

1. Mátyás, Csaba (1996). "Climatic adaptation of trees: rediscovering provenance tests". Euphytica. 92 (1-2): 45–54. doi:10.1007/bf00022827.
2. Scholander, P.F. (October 1, 1950). "ADAPTATION TO COLD IN ARCTIC AND TROPICAL MAMMALS AND BIRDS IN RELATION TO BODY TEMPERATURE, INSULATION, AND BASAL METABOLIC RATE". The Biological Bulletin. 99 (2): 259–271. doi:10.2307/1538742.
3. Gibert, Patricia; Moreteau, Brigitte; Petavy, Georges; Karan, Dev; David, Jean R. (2001). "HILL-COMA TOLERANCE, A MAJOR CLIMATIC ADAPTATION AMONG DROSOPHILA SPECIES". Evolution. 55 (5): 1063–1068. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00623.x.
4. Brown, James H.; Lee, Anthony K. (June 1969). "Bergmann's ruls and climatic adaptation in woodrats". Evolution. 23 (2): 329–338. doi:10.2307/2406795.
5. Gibert, Patricia; Moreteau, Brigitte; Petavy, Georges; Karan, Dev; David, Jean R. (2001). "HILL-COMA TOLERANCE, A MAJOR CLIMATIC ADAPTATION AMONG DROSOPHILA SPECIES". Evolution. 55 (5): 1063–1068. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00623.x.
6. Scholander, P.F. (October 1, 1950). "ADAPTATION TO COLD IN ARCTIC AND TROPICAL MAMMALS AND BIRDS IN RELATION TO BODY TEMPERATURE, INSULATION, AND BASAL METABOLIC RATE". The Biological Bulletin. 99 (2): 259–271. doi:10.2307/1538742.