2024-03-28T20:34:07Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/1841842019-09-24T11:39:02Zcom_10261_48com_10261_5col_10261_301
2019-06-17T07:14:24Z
urn:hdl:10261/184184
Aquatic insects dealing with dehydration: Do desiccation resistance traits differ in species with contrasting habitat preferences?
Pallarés, Susana
Velasco, Josefa
Millán, Andrés
Bilton, David T.
Arribas, Paula
Universidad de Murcia
Royal Society (UK)
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
European Commission
Water content
Coleoptera
Lotic
Water loss
Drought
Salinity
Enochrus
Lentic
Inland salt water
Cuticle
© 2016 Pallarés et al.
[Background] Desiccation resistance shapes the distribution of terrestrial insects at multiple spatial scales. However, responses to drying stress have been poorly studied in aquatic groups, despite their potential role in constraining their distribution and diversification, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions.
[Methods] We examined desiccation resistance in adults of four congeneric water beetle species (Enochrus, family Hydrophilidae) with contrasting habitat specificity (lentic vs. lotic systems and different salinity optima from fresh- to hypersaline waters). We measured survival, recovery capacity and key traits related to desiccation resistance (fresh mass, % water content, % cuticle content and water loss rate) under controlled exposure to desiccation, and explored their variability within and between species.
[Results] Meso- and hypersaline species were more resistant to desiccation than freshwater and hyposaline ones, showing significantly lower water loss rates and higher water content. No clear patterns in desiccation resistance traits were observed between lotic and lentic species. Intraspecifically, water loss rate was positively related to specimens' initial % water content, but not to fresh mass or % cuticle content, suggesting that the dynamic mechanism controlling water loss is mainly regulated by the amount of body water available.
[Discussion] Our results support previous hypotheses suggesting that the evolution of desiccation resistance is associated with the colonization of saline habitats by aquatic beetles. The interespecific patterns observed in Enochrus also suggest that freshwater species may be more vulnerable than saline ones to drought intensification expected under climate change in semi-arid regions such as the Mediterranean Basin.
2019-06-17T07:14:24Z
2019-06-17T07:14:24Z
2016-08-31
2019-06-17T07:14:24Z
artículo
PeerJ 2016
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/184184
10.7717/PEERJ.2382
2167-8359
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000288
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004687
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780
eng
Publisher's version
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2382
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/CGL2013-48950-C2-2-P
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
openAccess