Snow-mediated plasticity does not prevent camouflage mismatch
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HIGHLIGHTED STUDENT RESEARCH
Snow‑mediated plasticity does not prevent camouflage mismatch Alexander V. Kumar1,2 · Marketa Zimova3 · James R. Sparks4 · L. Scott Mills2,5 Received: 6 December 2019 / Accepted: 3 June 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Global reduction in snow cover duration is one of the most consistent and widespread climate change outcomes. Declining snow duration has severe negative consequences for diverse taxa including seasonally color molting species, which rely on snow for camouflage. However, phenotypic plasticity may facilitate adaptation to reduced snow duration. Plastic responses could occur in the color molt phenology or through behavior that minimizes coat color mismatch or its consequences. We quantified molt phenology of 200 wild snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), and measured microhabitat choice and local snow cover. Similar to other studies, we found that hares did not show behavioral plasticity to minimize coat color mismatch via background matching; instead they preferred colder, snow free areas regardless of their coat color. Furthermore, hares did not behaviorally mitigate the negative consequences of mismatch by choosing resting sites with denser vegetation cover when mismatched. Importantly, we demonstrated plasticity in the initiation and the rate of the molt and established the direct effect of snow on molt phenology; greater snow cover was associated with whiter hares and this association was not due to whiter hares preferring snowier areas. However, despite the observed snow-mediated plasticity in molt phenology, camouflage mismatch with white hares on brown snowless ground persisted and was more frequent during early snowmelt. Thus, we find no evidence that phenotypic plasticity in snowshoe hares is sufficient to facilitate adaptive rescue to camouflage mismatch under climate change. Keywords Adaptive rescue · Phenotypic plasticity · Behavioral plasticity · Climate change · Molt phenology
Introduction The detrimental effects of climate change on the fitness of wild populations may be ameliorated by adaptation (Hoffmann and Sgró 2011). Local adaptation to rapid environmental change may occur through both evolution via natural selection (i.e., evolutionary rescue (Vander Wal et al. 2013)) and phenotypic plasticity (Ghalambor and Martin 2001). Although both mechanisms are possible and can interact Communicated by Janne Sundell. We demonstrate that snow itself can directly affect phenotypic plasticity. We also connect this plasticity to adaptive rescue in a charismatic and topical system: climate change effects on hares. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04680-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Alexander V. Kumar [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
(Forsman 2015), phenotypic plasticity may provide the most rapid adaptive response in the face of climate change (Gienapp et al. 2008; Beever et al. 2017
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