Effects of climate warming and declining species richness in grassland model ecosystems: acclimation of CO2 fluxes S. Vicca, P. Serrano-Ortiz, H. J. De Boeck, C. M. H. M. Lemmens, I. Nijs, R. Ceulemans, A. S. Kowalski, and I. A. Janssens Research Group of Plant and Vegetation Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp (Campus Drie Eiken), Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium D...

Increasing evidence suggests that heat acclimation and exogenous salicylic acid (SA) and abscisic acid (ABA) may lead to the enhancement of thermotolerance in plants. In this study, the roles that free SA, conjugated SA, ABA, and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2))-specific phospholipase C (PLC) play in thermotolerance development induced by heat acclimation (38 degrees C) were inves...

The projected rise in temperature in the 21st century will alter forest ecosystem functioning and carbon dynamics. To date, the acclimation of plant photosynthesis to rising temperature has not been adequately considered in earth system models. Here we present a study on regional ecosystem carbon dynamics under future climate scenarios incorporating temperature acclimation effects into a large-...

Climate change is altering global patterns of precipitation and temperature variability, with implications for parasitic diseases of humans and wildlife. A recent study confirmed predictions that increased temperature variability could exacerbate disease, because of lags in host acclimation following temperature shifts. However, the generality of these host acclimation effects and the potential...

The acclimation possibilities to copper in Bufo arenarum embryos was evaluated by means of three different low level copper exposure conditions during 14 days. By the end of the acclimation period the copper content in control embryos was 1.04 +/- 0.09 microg g(-1) (wet weight) while in all the acclimated embryos a reduction of about 25% of copper was found. Thus copper content could be conside...

Use of global positioning system (GPS) transmitters provides opportunities to evaluate ecological questions associated with fine-scale animal movements. One important application is to evaluate how animals acclimate to new surroundings after translocation. Our objective was to quantify temporal acclimation for low-elevation, non-migratory bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) from 3 translocations to...

There is a heated debate about the effect of global change on tropical forests. Many scientists predict large-scale tree mortality while others point to mitigating roles of CO2 fertilization and - the notoriously unknown - physiological trait acclimation of trees. In this opinion article we provided a first quantification of the potential of trait acclimation to mitigate the negative effects of...

The effects of thermal acclimation were investigated in the common carp Cyprinus carpio L. Acclimation and acute temperature effects were tested during ontogeny from larval [9.5 mm total length (L)] to juvenile (69.0 mm L) stages and between 8 and 21 degrees C. The myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition, myofibrillar Mg(2+)-Ca(2+)-ATPase activity, and muscle strains showed significant thermal acc...

The objective of this study was to determine whether acclimation to hypoxia and sustained exercise would increase hypoxia tolerance (as indicated by a decrease in critical oxygen tension, P(crit)) and swimming performance in goldfish (Carassius auratus), and to investigate the relationship between changes in performance and gill remodelling and tissue metabolic capacity. Goldfish were acclimate...