BIO3082 Theme 4

Phenotypic Plasticity

Ability of an individual to change an aspect of its physiology or morphology in response to environmental change to maintain fitness

Metabolic rate _ with temperature

Increases

Reative Oxygen Species

Generated during metabolism, can damage proteins and membranes

Acclimation

Treatment that can induce a plastic response

Body Size Decrease

Smaller energy requirement and lower metabolic rate

Rapid evolution

Green anole lizard response to winter storms

Changes in space

Geographical range of populations may shift over time

Changes in time

Timing of migrations or plant budding may change to reflect climatic conditions

Limitation of species distribution modelling

Ignore plasticity and adaptation

Increase genetic diversity

How to increase genetic adaptation to climate change

Population augmentation

Increase population size or genetic diversity through a range of processes (assisted evolution, captive breeding)

Assisted Translocation/migration

Move species to areas predicted to fall in their fundamental niche

Wild to wild translocation example

Mountain Pigmy Possum

Assisted migration example

Western Swamp Tortoise

Indigenous Conservation Knowledge Example

Northern Brown Bandicoot and Brushtail Possum

Biodiversity Bias

Invertebrates are largely overlooked

Predator free reserves and translocations

Extinction management strategies

Other Effective Conservation Measures

Areas achieving long term and effective in-situ conservation outside protected areas

Inbreeding depression

The reduction in survival, fertility, and overall biological fitness of offspring when closely related individuals mate

Range shift example

Long-spined sea urchin