When water interacts with temperature: Ecological and evolutionary implications of thermo‐hydroregulation in terrestrial ectotherms

Abstract

Abstract The regulation of body temperature (thermoregulation) and of water balance (defined here as hydroregulation) are key processes underlying ecological and evolutionary responses to climate fluctuations in wild animal populations. In terrestrial (or semiterrestrial) ectotherms, thermoregulation and hydroregulation closely interact and combined temperature and water constraints should directly influence individual performances. Although comparative physiologists traditionally investigate jointly water and temperature regulation, the ecological and evolutionary implications of these coupled processes have so far mostly been studied independently. Here, we revisit the concept of thermo‐hydroregulation to address the functional integration of body temperature and water balance regulation in terrestrial ectotherms. We demonstrate how thermo‐hydroregulation provides a framework to investigate functional adaptations to joint environmental variation in temperature and water availability, and potential physiological and/or behavioral conflicts between thermoregulation and hydroregulation. We extend the classical cost–benefit model of thermoregulation in ectotherms to highlight the adaptive evolution of optimal thermo‐hydroregulation strategies. Critical gaps in the parameterization of this conceptual optimality model and guidelines for future empirical research are discussed. We show that studies of thermo‐hydroregulation refine our mechanistic understanding of physiological and behavioral plasticity, and of the fundamental niche of the species. This is illustrated with relevant and recent examples of space use and dispersal, resource‐based trade‐offs, and life‐history tactics in insects, amphibians, and nonavian reptiles.

Keywords

• behavioral decisions
• body temperature
• performance curves
• physiological adjustments
• water balance