Can diet mediate environmental tolerance limits?
The nutritional landscape is continually changing in response to both natural (e.g. seasons) and anthropogenic (e.g. climate change) stressors. Food provides the essential nutrients and energy that animals require to thrive (grow, move, reproduce, escape predators) and acclimate to new conditions. We are examining how variation in food abundance, options, and quality impact performance, plasticity, and environmental tolerance limits.
Selected Publications:
Eliason, E.J., E.A Hardison. 2024. The impacts of diet on cardiac performance under changing environments. Journal of Experimental Biology 227: jeb247749
Hardison, E.A., E.J. Eliason. 2024. Diet effects on ectotherm thermal performance. Biological Reviews 99: 1537-1555
Hardison, E.A., G.D. Schwieterman, E.J. Eliason. 2023. Diet changes thermal acclimation capacity, but not acclimation rate, in a marine ectotherm (Girella nigricans) during warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290: 20222505
Hardison, E.A., K. Kraskura, J.C. Van Wert, T. Nguyen†, E.J. Eliason. 2021. Diet mediates thermal performance traits: implications for marine ectotherms. Journal of Experimental Biology 224: jeb242846
How does the cardiorespiratory system mediate performance and thermal tolerance?
The cardiovascular system plays an essential role of transporting oxygen, nutrients, and wastes throughout the body. Accumulating evidence suggests that thermal tolerance is set by cardiac function in many species of ectotherms [e.g. porcelain crabs, blue mussels, marine snails, and sockeye salmon] and may be a key limiting factor regulating species distribution globally. Our research examines how the cardiorespiratory system sets thermal limits and mediates performance in ectotherms.
Selected Publications:
Van Wert, J.C., A.T. Ekström, M.J.H. Gilbert, B.J. Hendriks, S.J. Cooke, D.A. Patterson, S.G. Hinch, E.J. Eliason. 2024. Coronary circulation enhances the aerobic performance of wild Pacific salmon. Journal of Experimental Biology 227: jeb247422
Ekström, A., B. Hendriks, J.C. Van Wert, M. Gilbert, A.P. Farrell, S.J. Cooke, D.A. Patterson, S.G. Hinch, E.J. Eliason. 2023. Impairing cardiac oxygen supply in swimming coho salmon compromises their heart function and tolerance to acute warming. Scientific Reports 13 (1), 21204
Csik, S.R., B.P. DiFiore, K. Kraskura, E.A. Hardison, J.S. Curtis, E.J. Eliason, A.C. Stier. 2023. The metabolic underpinnings of temperature-dependent predation in a key marine predator. Frontiers in Marine Science 10:1072807
Prystay, T.S., M.J. Lawrence, A.J. Zolderdo, J.W. Brownscombe, R. de Bruijn, E.J. Eliason, S.J. Cooke. 2019. Exploring relationships between cardiovascular activity and parental care behavior in nesting smallmouth bass: a field study using heart rate biologgers. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 234: 18-27
Eliason, E.J., T.D. Clark, S.G. Hinch, A.P. Farrell. 2013. Cardiorespiratory collapse at high temperature in swimming adult sockeye salmon. Conservation Physiology 1: doi:10.1093/conphys/cot008
Eliason, E.J., T.D. Clark, S.G. Hinch, A.P. Farrell. 2013. Cardiorespiratory performance and blood chemistry during swimming and recovery in three elite swimmers: Adult sockeye salmon. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 166: 385-397
Steinhausen, M. F., E. Sandblom, E.J. Eliason, C.V. Verhille, A. P. Farrell. 2008. The effect of acute temperature increases on the cardiorespiratory performance of resting and swimming sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Journal of Experimental Biology 211: 3915-3926
Image credit: Paul Parsons
What cellular mechanisms drive cardiac collapse at high temperature?
As temperatures warm, cardiac function is known to fail in fishes. However, the mechanisms driving this failure are poorly understood. Our team is examining potential cellular mechanisms that may be driving cardiac collapse.
Selected Publications:
Schwieterman, G.D., E.A Hardison, G.K. Cox, J.C. Van Wert, K. Birnie-Gauvin, E.J. Eliason. 2023. Mechanisms of cardiac collapse at high temperature in a marine teleost (Girella nigrians). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 286: 111512
Anttila, K., A.P. Farrell, D.A. Patterson, S.G. Hinch, E.J. Eliason. 2019. Cardiac SERCA activity in sockeye salmon populations: an adaptive response to migration conditions. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 76: 1-5
Anttila, K., E.J. Eliason, K.H. Kaukinen, K.M. Miller, A.P. Farrell. 2014. Facing warm temperatures during migration: cardiac mRNA responses of two adult Oncorhynchus nerka populations to warming and swimming challenges. Journal of Fish Biology 84: 1439-1456
Jeffries, K.J., S.G. Hinch, T. Sierocinski, T.D. Clark, E.J. Eliason, M. Donaldson, S. Li, P. Pavlidis, K. Miller. 2012. Consequences of high temperatures and premature mortality on the transcriptome and blood physiology of wild adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Ecology and Evolution 2: 1747-1764
