Data from: Evidence of plasticity and adaptive responses to thermal stress of Ceratitis capitata across latitude
Data files
Dec 15, 2025 version files 22.71 KB
-
CTmin_max_csv.csv
20.24 KB
-
README.md
2.46 KB
Abstract
This study explores the thermal tolerance of geographically isolated Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) populations and examines how response to thermal stress is associated with its capacity to invade cooler temperate regions. The remarkable invasion success of C. capitata, facilitated by global fruit trade and human activity, offers an opportunity to explore the role of phenotypic plasticity in shaping invasion dynamics. We assessed Critical Thermal Limits (CTLs) across populations from varying latitudes, examining the effects of latitude, climate, and thermal acclimation. Critical Thermal Minimum (CTmin) was lower in populations obtained from colder, higher-latitude regions and influenced by climatic variability. While acclimation temperature had a marginally non-significant effect on CTmin, its interaction with latitude was significant, showing a pronounced increase in CTmin with acclimation at higher latitudes. Critical Thermal Maximum (CTmax) was influenced by microclimatic variability, with higher values in populations originating from colder, higher-latitude sites. Acclimation temperature increased CTmax across populations, with females exhibiting higher CTmax values than males. Significant interactions between latitude and climatic variability (PC1) for both CTmin and CTmax underscore the role of local climate conditions in shaping thermal tolerance. These findings enhance our understanding of the physiological mechanisms driving the invasive potential of C. capitata and its adaptation to temperate climates.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.m0cfxppgb
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset was generated to investigate variation in critical thermal limits (CTmin and CTmax) across six populations of Ceratitis capitata exposed to five different acclimation treatments, aiming to assess thermal tolerance plasticity and potential local adaptation.
Files and variables
File: CTmin_max_csv.csv
Description: CTmin/CTmax measurements
Variables
- Replication (Replicate identifier for each experimental unit) Unit: categorical (integer values).
- Population (Geographic origin of C. capitata individuals used in the experiment). Categories correspond to different populations used.
- Treatment (Thermal acclimation treatment applied to adult flies prior to thermal tolerance). Levels represent the acclimation temperature.
- Sex (Biological sex of the individual). Categories: males and females.
- CTmin value (Critical thermal minimum). Unit: Degrees Celsius oC
- CTmax value (Critical thermal maximum). Unit: Degrees Celsius oC
Code/software
The dataset can be opened with any spreadsheet software (e.g., Microsoft Excel etc.)
Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, etc.) were calculated using SPSS 29.Further statistical analyses were conducted in R ersion 4.1.1 (R Development Core Team 2022). To characterize macroclimatic conditions at the six collection sites, 19 bioclimatic variables (Bioclim1–Bioclim19) were extracted from WorldClim v2.1 (Fick and Hijmans, 2017) using site coordinates. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to summarize climatic variation among sites.
To identify the best-fitting multivariable linear regression models for CTmin and CTmax, a model selection process was applied using:
regsubsets()from theleapspackage,ols_step_all_possible()from theolsrrpackage (Hebbali and Hebbali, 2017; Miller, 2020),- and
vif()from thecarpackage to assess multicollinearity (Fox and Weisberg, 2018).
Candidate predictors included latitude, host, acclimation temperature, sex, and the first two PCA axes (PC1 and PC2). Model selection was based on adjusted R², AIC, and BIC values, while ensuring biological interpretability. All variables (except sex) were treated as continuous.