technical paper
Stress history affects heat tolerance in an aquatic ectotherm (Chinook salmon,Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
keywords:
cross protection.
ctmax
thermal tolerance
The stress history of an individual is predicted to impact how they handle sudden increases in environmental temperature. However, our understanding of how prior exposure to commonplace stressors, like salinity and crowding, affects ectotherm heat tolerance is lacking. We hypothesised that brief exposure to mild stress would heighten tolerance to subsequent heat stress, indicative of a cross-tolerance interaction, whereas exposure to severe stress would reduce heat tolerance, reflecting a cross-susceptibility interaction. To test this hypothesis, we assessed how three acute stressors (salinity shock, air exposure, and crowding), commonly experienced by fish, affected the heat tolerance (measured as critical thermal maximum, CTmax) of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Fish were exposed to one of the three stressors and left for 24 h of recovery prior to measuring CTmax. This talk will detail how the stress history (salinity shock, air exposure, or crowding) impacts the capacity to withstand a subsequent heat shock. We highlight evidence of cross-tolerance and cross-susceptibility among commonplace stressors, and detail dose-dependent effects.