Faculty Advisor
DeMarais, Alyce
Area of Study
Science and Mathematics
Publication Date
Summer 2019
Abstract
The impact of climate change is predicted to increase water temperatures by 2 °C on average globally within the next century. As ectotherms, fish metabolism is directly connected to ambient water temperature. With a shift in metabolism due to temperature change, physiological processes like maternal investment may be affected. This study is an ecological and developmental investigation of the impacts of shifting environmental temperature conditions on the reproductive traits of the fish species Danio rerio. This study investigated Danio rerio under different temperatures to measure maternal investment. Female Danio rerio were exposed to temperature treatments 20-30 °C. Ovary tissue was measured as a proxy for maternal investment. Female fish weight did not change across temperature treatments (p = 0.69). There was a clear trend of decreased ovary weight as temperature increased in each replicated trial (p = 0.078). This study indicates that increased temperature decreased maternal investment in Danio rerio. Future directions will be focused on studying the fitness impact of this effect on offspring.
Award
Summer
Recommended Citation
Dillon, Noah R. and DeMarais, Alyce, "The effects of temperature on maternal investment of ovary tissue in the fish species Danio rerio" (2019). Summer Research. 359.
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/summer_research/359
Rights
Publisher
University of Puget Sound
Included in
Developmental Biology Commons, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons