Environmental Stochasticity Drives Adaptation to Cooler Thermal Optima in Competition

TL;DR

Environmental noise shifts competition strategies in ectotherms toward cooler thermal optima, adapting to unpredictable temperature fluctuations.

Contribution

This study shows that stochastic environmental noise leads to evolutionary shifts in thermal performance curves toward cooler optima.

Findings

Stochastic environments broaden thermal performance curves for competition.

Thermal optima shift leftward under moderate to high environmental noise.

Right-skewed curves suggest a conservative thermal strategy in uncertain conditions.

Abstract

Thermal reaction norms, or thermal performance curves (TPCs), describe how ectothermic organisms respond to temperature variation. Here, we investigate how stochastic environmental noise, by modulating competitive interactions among individuals with differing TPC shapes, can drive long-term evolutionary changes in thermal performance. We develop a Ricker competition model within the framework of adaptive dynamics to examine how environmental variability, corresponding to the joint effect of both periodic and stochastic temperature fluctuations, influences the evolution of competition TPCs. Growth, carrying capacity and competitive interactions are all temperature-dependent, with competition coefficients defined by the ratio of individuals’ thermal performance curve at the prevailing temperature. Competition TPCs are modelled using a beta probability density function. Previous results from periodically (i.e., deterministically) fluctuating environments established that the thermal optimum converges to the mean environmental temperature, while performance breadth collapses under constant conditions. In contrast, we show that under stochastic environments, increasing thermal noise broadens competition TPCs and shifts the thermal optimum leftward, away from the environmental mean. This results in right-skewed competition TPCs and suggests an evolutionary bias towards cooler temperature optima for competition under moderate to high environmental noise. Alongside the broadening of competition TPCs to buffer against thermal fluctuations, the shift towards cooler optima reflects a more conservative thermal strategy for competition performance in the face of environmental uncertainty.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11538-026-01614-6.

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