Dung beetle resistance to desiccation varies within and among populations

Abstract

The study of desiccation resistance and its underlying traits is key to understanding species responses to changes in water availability, especially in the context of predicted increases in the frequency and severity of droughts due to climate change. We performed laboratory experiments using dung beetles, important ecosystem service providers, to investigate variations in physiological traits within species, both at population and individual levels. Desiccation resistance, water loss tolerance and water content were measured in lowland and mountain populations to investigate whether physiological traits vary (i) according to elevation across four species, and (ii) according to sex or male morphology (minor and major morphs) in two species, and if these responses were consistent across species. Our results showed that desiccation resistance of dung beetles varies both at individual and population levels. We found that desiccation resistance varied between lowland and mountain populations, but no differences were found for other traits such as water loss tolerance. Moreover, differences in individual physiological responses between females, major and minor males suggest that females were more resistant to desiccation than minors and majors, but these responses were species-dependent. Our analysis at two hierarchical levels, individual and population, emphasizes the importance of considering within-species variability in predictions of how species may respond to future climatic conditions. Predictions of the responses of species to environmental change may produce different conclusions if they rely on observations from single populations or take into account only a limited range of phenotypes per population.