Integrating Thermal Physiology and Ecology of Ectotherms: A Discussion of Approaches
1979/02/01 by Raymond B. Huey, RAYMOND B. HUEY, R.D. STEVENSON +1 · 1,549 citations
Environmental Science · #Amphibian and Reptile Biology #Biology #Computer science #Ecology #Ecophysiology #Ectotherm #Evolutionary ecology #Evolutionary physiology #Physiological and biochemical adaptations #Thermoregulation #Turtle Biology and Conservation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/icb/19.1.357
published in American Zoologist 19(1), 357-366 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 1979/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
An understanding of interactions between the thermal physiology and ecology of ectotherms remains elusive, partly because information on the relative performance of whole-animal physiological systems at ecologically relevant body temperatures is limited. After discussing physiological systems that have direct links to ecology (e.g., growth, locomotor ability), we review analytical methods of describing and comparing certain aspects of performance (including optimal temperature range, thermal performance breadth), apply these techniques in an example on the thermal sensitivity of locomotion in frogs, and evaluate potential applications.
Citations
Cited by
- Physiological and morphological traits affect contemporary range expansion and implications for species distribution modelling in an amphibian species
- First insights into the population characteristics and seasonal occurrence of the great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837) in the Western Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia
- Unresponsive to change: Ectotherms fail to adjust physiology to daily temperature variation
- Hypergravity exposure leads to persistent effects on geotaxis and activity in Drosophila melanogaster
- Diversity patterns in terrestrial tetrapod clades are governed by equilibrium dynamics
- Rangewide responses of Mimulus cardinalis to an extreme heat event
- Rapid postfire color shift in a Mediterranean lizard
- Thermal ecology of the South American leaf-toed gecko Phyllodactylus gerrhopygus (Wiegmann, 1834) (Gekkota, Phyllodactylidae) in northern Chile
- Balancing energy demands and thermal environments: The influence of ambient temperature on resting metabolic rate and behavioural thermoregulation in Rana temporaria
- Relationship between cognitive and thermoregulatory performance in the common wall lizard
- High temperatures amplify aggressiveness of an invasive lizard toward a native congener
- Understanding the temperature response of biological systems: Part I -- Phenomenological descriptions and microscopic models
- Similar thermal breadth of two temperate coral species from the Mediterranean Sea and two tropical coral species from the Great Barrier Reef
- Thermal preference in Drosophila
- A Systems Approach to Homeostasis: What Euryhaline Fish Teach Us About Organismal Stress Responses
- Spatial and seasonal variation in thermal sensitivity within North American bird species
- Comparing six nonlinear equations describing the 2‐D profiles of apical meristems
- Elevated temperatures have sex-specific effects on nuptial gift behavior
- Trade-off between thermal preference and sperm maturation in a montane lizard
- Measuring Performance in Nature: Implications for Studies of Fitness Within Populations
- Cross-species gut microbiota transplantation predictably affects host heat tolerance
- Spatial and interannual variability in Baltic sprat batch fecundity
- Short‐term performance responses of an intertidal fish to sedimentation and warming
- Revisiting Thermal Gradient Experiments: Effects of Thermal Heterogeneity on Salamander Behavior
- Ecological features of upriver migration in Kitakami River chum salmon and their connection to aerobic thermal performance
- Daily torpor reduces the energetic consequences of microhabitat selection for a widespread bat
- Fitness in novel environments: Bisphenol S and warming reduce energy efficiency, reproductive success, and movement across generations in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
- Assessment of the vulnerability of Spiny Lizards in Central Mexico under anthropogenic pressure: integrating habitat suitability, landscape connectivity, fragmentation and protected area coverage
- Interactive effects of sedimentary turbidity and elevated water temperature on the Pugnose Shiner (Miniellus anogenus), a threatened freshwater fish
- Thermal Plasticity Changes Competitive Ability Across a Woodland Salamander Hybrid System
- Seasonal Thermal Ecology and Locomotor Performance of an Andean Viviparous Lizard: Assessment of Its Vulnerability to Climate Change
- Precipitation and Temperature‐Dependent Locomotor Performance Drive the Abundance of a Neotropical Lizard
- Performance of Cerrado lizards: a test of the center–periphery hypothesis
- Synthesizing evidence to beat the heat: a guideline for thermal tolerance reporting
- Intraspecific Variation in Thermal Performance Suggests the Presence of Range‐Edge Divergence and Phenotypic Compensation of Northern Individuals in an Introduced Species
- The heat shock response in Polistes spp. brood from differing climates following heat stress
- Thermal flight performance reveals impact of warming on bumblebee foraging potential
- Predicting organismal vulnerability to climate warming: roles of behaviour, physiology and adaptation
- Seasonal variation in thermal tolerance and hypoxia tolerance of a threatened minnow and a non-imperilled congener: a cautionary tale for surrogate species in conservation
- Thermoregulation enhances survival but not reproduction in a plant‐feeding insect
- Growth Plasticity and Thermal Opportunity in Sceloporus Lizards
- If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the city: Thermal reaction norms of chitinolytic fungi in an urban heat island
- Heat stress and the fitness consequences of climate change for terrestrial ectotherms
- Fluctuating Helical Asymmetry and Morphology of Snails (Gastropoda) in Divergent Microhabitats at ‘Evolution Canyons I and II,’ Israel
- Gross mismatch between thermal tolerances and environmental temperatures in a tropical freshwater snail: Climate warming and evolutionary implications
- Large-scale evolution of body temperatures in land vertebrates
- Maximal Running Speeds of Bipedal and Quadrupedal Rodents
- Rapid large-scale evolutionary divergence in morphology and performance associated with exploitation of a different dietary resource
- Thermoregulatory behaviour limits local adaptation of thermal niches and confers sensitivity to climate change
- Consequences of Metamorphosis for the Locomotor Performance and Thermal Physiology of the NewtTriturus cristatus
- Ontogenetic and individual variation in size, shape and speed in the Australian agamid lizard Amphibolurus nuchalis
- Predicting insect pest status under climate change scenarios: combining experimental data and population dynamics modelling
- Thermal Biology of Nocturnal Ectotherms: Is Sprint Performance of Geckos Maximal at Low Body Temperatures?
- The Effect of Temperature and Thermal Acclimation on Locomotor Performance in Xantusia vigilis, the Desert Night Lizard
- Predicting organismal vulnerability to climate warming: roles of behaviour, physiology and adaptation. [europepmc]
- Integrating phylogeography and physiology reveals divergence of thermal traits between central and peripheral lineages of tropical rainforest lizards. [europepmc]
- Can terrestrial ectotherms escape the heat of climate change by moving? [europepmc]
- Variation in thermal sensitivity and thermal tolerances in an invasive species across a climatic gradient: lessons from the land snail Cornu aspersum. [europepmc]
- Microclimate Data Improve Predictions of Insect Abundance Models Based on Calibrated Spatiotemporal Temperatures. [europepmc]
- The rise and fall of infectious disease in a warmer world. [europepmc]
- Is there a trade-off between peak performance and performance breadth across temperatures for aerobic scope in teleost fishes? [europepmc]
- Natural selection on thermal preference, critical thermal maxima and locomotor performance. [europepmc]
- Countercurrent heat exchange and thermoregulation during blood-feeding in kissing bugs. [europepmc]
- Low acclimation capacity of narrow-ranging thermal specialists exposes susceptibility to global climate change. [europepmc]
- Effects of the Environmental Temperature on Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus Mosquitoes: A Review. [europepmc]
- Fast adaptation of tropical diatoms to increased warming with trade-offs. [europepmc]
- Differential sensitivity of bees to urbanization-driven changes in body temperature and water content. [europepmc]
- Thermal performance of scleractinian corals along a latitudinal gradient on the Great Barrier Reef. [europepmc]
- Thermal performance across levels of biological organization. [europepmc]
- Ion transporter gene expression is linked to the thermal sensitivity of calcification in the reef coral Stylophora pistillata. [europepmc]
- Increased temperatures reduce the vectorial capacity of Aedes mosquitoes for Zika virus. [europepmc]
- Temperate insects with narrow seasonal activity periods can be as vulnerable to climate change as tropical insect species. [europepmc]
- Hydrothermal physiology and climate vulnerability in amphibians. [europepmc]
- How will mosquitoes adapt to climate warming? [europepmc]
- Decreased thermal niche breadth as a trade-off of antibiotic resistance. [europepmc]
- Genome-wide signatures of synergistic epistasis during parallel adaptation in a Baltic Sea copepod. [europepmc]
- Recovery from heat-induced infertility-A study of reproductive tissue responses and fitness consequences in male Drosophila melanogaster . [europepmc]
- Assessing the role of family level variation and heat shock gene expression in the thermal stress response of the mosquito Aedes aegypti . [europepmc]
- Climate change-related warming reduces thermal sensitivity and modifies metabolic activity of coastal benthic bacterial communities. [europepmc]
Related