2023 Spring Seminar Series Presents

Dr. Kimberly Sheldon

Associate Professor
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Tennessee Knoxville

WHEN:  March 31, 2023, at Noon
WHERE:  Seminar will be presented via Zoom and in person in the North Classroom, Room 1207.

Everyone is welcome to join the seminar, please email jacki.craig@ucdenver.edu to receive the Zoom link. Requests can be submitted any time before the seminar but not after 10:00am the day of the seminar.

The impact of temperature variation on physiology, behavior, and biotic responses to climate change

Increases in temperature mean and variance associated with climate change are expected to have profound effects on the development, fecundity, and survival of ectotherms. Theory and empirical evidence suggest that the impacts of temperature change will vary with the evolutionary history of a species, with those evolving in more thermally variable environments being less sensitive to temperature change. Using experimental studies with tropical and temperate dung beetles, I examined how temperature variation impacts physiology across latitude and life stages and how physiological plasticity may contribute to organismal resilience in a warming world. In addition to physiology, behavioral plasticity may play a key role in mediating the impacts of climate change. Using a series of lab and field experiments, I examined the plasticity of reproductive behaviors of dung beetles in response to temperature change and how these responses shape offspring phenotype and fitness. The combination of physiological and behavioral insights gained from this work are critical for predicting species’ vulnerability to climate change