Data from: Thermal plasticity in postembryonic life history traits of a widely distributed Collembola: Effects of macroclimate and microhabitat on genotypic differences

Life history traits in many ectotherms show complex patterns of variation among conspecific populations sampled along wide latitudinal or climatic gradients. However, few studies have assessed whether these patterns can be explained better by thermal reaction norms of multiple life history traits, covering major aspects of the life cycle. In this study, we compared five populations of a Holarctic, numerically dominant soil microarthropod species, Folsomia quadrioculata, sampled from a wide latitudinal gradient (56–81°N), for growth, development, fecundity, and survival across four temperatures (10, 15, 20, and 25°C) in common garden experiments. We evaluated the extent to which macroclimate could explain differences in thermal adaptation and life history strategies among populations. The common garden experiments revealed large genotypic differences among populations in all the traits, which were little explained by latitude and macroclimate. In addition, the life history strategies (traits combined) hardly revealed any systematic difference related to latitude and macroclimate. The overall performance of the northernmost population from the most stochastic microclimate and the southernmost population, which remains active throughout the year, was least sensitive to the temperature treatments. In contrast, performance of the population from the most predictable microclimate peaked within a narrow temperature range (around 15°C). Our findings revealed limited support for macroclimate-based predictions, and indicated that local soil habitat conditions related to predictability and seasonality might have considerable influence on the evolution of life history strategies of F. quadrioculata. This study highlights the need to combine knowledge on microhabitat characteristics, and demography, with findings from common garden experiments, for identifying the key drivers of life history evolution across large spatial scales, and wide climate gradients. We believe that similar approaches may substantially improve the understanding of adaptation in many terrestrial ectotherms with low dispersal ability.许多变温动物（ectotherms）的生活史性状在沿宽纬度或气候梯度采集的同种种群间呈现复杂的变异模式。然而，鲜有研究能够评估这些模式能否被覆盖生活史主要方面的多个生活史性状的温度反应规范（thermal reaction norms）更好地解释。本研究针对全北界（Holarctic）、数量占优的土壤微型节肢动物物种四眼棘跳虫（Folsomia quadrioculata）的5个种群展开研究，这些种群采自跨度为56°N至81°N的宽纬度梯度，我们在同质园实验（common garden experiments）中设置10、15、20与25℃共4个温度梯度，测定了各群体的生长、发育、繁殖力与存活率。本研究评估了大气候（macroclimate）在多大程度上能够解释种群间温度适应与生活史策略的差异。同质园实验结果显示，所有性状在种群间均存在显著的遗传差异，但这类差异几乎无法通过纬度与大气候解释。此外，综合考量的生活史策略（即多性状组合）几乎未呈现出与纬度和大气候相关的系统性差异。来自微气候最不稳定的最北部种群，以及全年保持活动的最南部种群，其整体表现对温度处理的敏感性最低；与之相反，来自微气候最稳定的种群，其表现仅在狭窄的温度区间（约15℃）内达到峰值。本研究结果仅为基于大气候的预测提供了有限的支持，同时表明与生境可预测性和季节性相关的局部土壤生境条件，可能对四眼棘跳虫的生活史策略演化具有显著影响。本研究强调，在识别大空间尺度与宽气候梯度下生活史演化的关键驱动因素时，需将微生境特征、种群动态（demography）知识与同质园实验结果相结合。我们认为，类似的研究方法可大幅提升对众多扩散能力较弱的陆生变温动物适应机制的理解。