The capacity of ectotherms to cope with rising temperatures associated with climate change is a significant conservation concern as the rate of warming is likely too rapid to allow for adaptative responses in many populations. Transgenerational plasticity (TGP), if present, could potentially buffer some of the negative impacts of warming on future generations. We examined TGP in lake trout to assess their inter-generational potential to cope with anticipated warming. We acclimated adult lake trout to cold (10°C) or warm (17°C) temperatures for several months, then bred them to produce offspring from parents within a temperature treatment (cold-acclimated and warm-acclimated parents) and between temperature treatments (i.e. reciprocal crosses). At the fry stage, offspring were also acclimated to cold (11°C) or warm (15°C) temperatures. Thermal performance was assessed by measuring their critical thermal maximum (CTM) and the change in metabolic rate during an acute temperature challenge. From this dataset, we also determined their resting and peak (highest achieved, thermally induced) metabolic rates. There was little variation in offspring CTM or peak metabolic rate, although cold-acclimated offspring from warm-acclimated parents exhibited elevated resting metabolic rates without a corresponding increase in mass or condition factor, suggesting that transgenerational effects can be detrimental when parent and offspring environments mismatch. These results suggest that the limited TGP in thermal performance of lake trout is unlikely to significantly influence population responses to projected increases in environmental temperatures.

中文翻译：

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环境温度对冷适应鲑鱼热性能的有限跨代影响

变温动物应对与气候变化相关的温度升高的能力是一个重要的保护问题，因为变暖的速度可能太快而无法在许多人群中做出适应性反应。如果存在跨代可塑性（TGP），可能会缓冲变暖对后代的一些负面影响。我们检查了湖鳟中的 TGP，以评估它们应对预期变暖的代际潜力。我们将成年湖鳟在寒冷（10°C）或温暖（17°C）的温度下驯化几个月，然后在温度处理（冷驯化和温暖驯化的父母）和温度处理之间培育它们以从父母那里产生后代（即相互交叉）。在鱼苗阶段，后代也适应寒冷（11°C）或温暖（15°C）的温度。通过测量它们的临界热最大值 (CTM) 和急性温度挑战期间代谢率的变化来评估热性能。从这个数据集中，我们还确定了它们的静息和峰值（最高达到的，热诱导的）代谢率。后代 CTM 或峰值代谢率几乎没有变化，尽管来自温暖适应父母的冷适应后代表现出升高的静息代谢率，而质量或条件因素没有相应增加，这表明当父母和后代环境不匹配时，跨代效应可能是有害的. 这些结果表明，湖鳟热性能有限的 TGP 不太可能显着影响种群对预计的环境温度升高的反应。