Low annual temperature likely prevents the Holarctic amphipod Gammarus lacustris from invading Lake Baikal

• Published in: Scientific reports 2021-05, Vol.11 (1), p.10532-14, Article 10532
• Main Authors: Vereshchagina, Kseniya, Kondrateva, Elizaveta, Mutin, Andrei, Jakob, Lena, Bedulina, Daria, Shchapova, Ekaterina, Madyarova, Ekaterina, Axenov-Gribanov, Denis, Luckenbach, Till, Pörtner, Hans-Otto, Lucassen, Magnus, Timofeyev, Maxim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 704/158/2178; 704/158/2455; Amphipoda - classification; Amphipoda - metabolism; Amphipoda - physiology; Animals; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; Arctic Regions; Climate change; Cold Temperature; Ecosystem; Endemic species; Energy Metabolism; Gammarus lacustris; Humanities and Social Sciences; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Lakes; Metabolic response; Metabolism; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Species Specificity; Stress, Physiological; Temperature; Temperature tolerance; Thermal stress
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89581-x

Species with effective thermal adaptation mechanisms allowing them to thrive within a wide temperature range can benefit from climatic changes as they can displace highly specialized species. Here, we studied the adaptive capabilities of the Baikal endemic amphipods Eulimnogammarus verrucosus (Gerstfeld, 1858) and Eulimnogammarus cyaneus (Dybowsky, 1874) compared to the potential Holarctic Baikal invader Gammarus lacustris Sars, 1863 at the cellular level including the energy metabolism and the antioxidant system. All species were long-term exposed to a range of temperatures (1.5 °C to mimic winter conditions and the three species-specific preferred temperatures (i.e., 6 °C for E. verrucosus , 12 °C for E. cyaneus and 15 °C for G. lacustris ). At 1.5 °C, we found species-specific metabolic alterations (i.e., significantly reduced ATP content and lactate dehydrogenase activity) indicating limitations on the activity level in the Holarctic G. lacustris . Although the two Baikal endemic amphipod species largely differ in thermal tolerance, no such limitations were found at 1.5 °C. However, the cold-stenothermal Baikal endemic E. verrucosus showed changes indicating a higher involvement of anaerobic metabolism at 12 °C and 15 °C, while the metabolic responses of the more eurythermal Baikal endemic E. cyaneus may support aerobic metabolism and an active lifestyle at all exposure temperatures. Rising temperatures in summer may provide a competitive advantage for G. lacustris compared to the Baikal species but the inactive lifestyle in the cold is likely preventing G. lacustris from establishing a stable population in Lake Baikal.