Séminaire du 10 novembre 2021 : Jérémy LE LUYER

Ocean warming is a particularly challenging threat for tropical marine bivalves’ species because many live already near their upper thermal limits. The thermal sensitivity of organisms is a strong contributor to the biogeographic boundaries of populations and species. The potential of thermal plastic response (range of thermal breadth) is typically reduced for marine populations living in stable thermal environments, e.g., in extreme latitudes organisms as traduced in the climatic variability hypothesis. However, regional-scale heterogeneity among tropical environments, such as archipelagos in French Polynesia, might also serve in modulating this plastic potential. The questions remain now, how tropical organisms are able to cope with abnormally elevated temperature on long-term (several weeks) and how environmental-variability might drive the potential of resilience? I will present a series of tools towards the evaluation of global adaptation and acclimation potential in response to climate change. The presentation will focus on recent work on Pinctada margaritifera, benefiting from two ecologically divergent populations experiencing contrasted local environmental conditions.