Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Development rate (communication arising)

Modelling developmental time and temperature

Nature volume 424, pages 268–269 (2003)Cite this article

The rate at which ectothermic animals develop is sensitive to temperature. Gillooly et al.1 suggest that the magnitude of the effect of temperature on the rate of development is roughly the same at all life stages and for all species. In reality, different life stages and different species vary considerably in terms of their sensitivity to changes in the thermal environment. This variability means that universal models based on cross-stage and cross-species comparisons, such as that proposed by Gillooly et al., are of limited use in predicting how populations of animals will respond to temperature change.

Van't Hoff Q10 values for the duration of defined embryonic stages range from 1.9 to 8.2 in chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha3 (Fig. 1b) and from 2.2 to 5.8 in the sea urchin Strongylocentrus droebachiensis4 (Fig. 1c). The degree of variation is similar if the slope function, α, of Gillooly et al., rather than the van't Hoff Q10, is used to estimate thermal sensitivity. For example, values of α for the tailed frog range from −0.075 to −0.27, equivalent to Arrhenius Q10 values of 2.1 to 14.9 (Arrhenius Q10 = exp(−10α); Arrhenius Q10 = van't Hoff Q10 at 0 °C).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Stage- and species-specific variation in thermal sensitivity.

References

  1. Gillooly, J. F., Charnov, E. L., West, G. B., Savage, V. M. & Brown, J. H. Nature 417, 70–73 (2002).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Brown, H. A. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A 50, 397–405 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Velsen, F. P. J. Can. Data Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 626, 19–20 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Stephens, R. E. Biol. Bull. 142, 132–144 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rombough, P. J. in Global Warming: Implications for Freshwater and Marine Fish (eds Wood, C. M. & McDonald, D. G.) 177–223 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Clarke, A. & Johnston, N. M. J. Anim. Sci. 68, 893–905 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Brandon University, Brandon, R7A 6A9, Manitoba, Canada

    Peter Rombough

Authors
  1. Peter Rombough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Rombough.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rombough, P. Modelling developmental time and temperature. Nature 424, 268–269 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424268a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/424268a

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing