Data from: Complex interactions between local adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, and sex affect vulnerability to warming in a widespread marine copepod

Predicting the response of populations to climate change requires
knowledge of thermal performance. Genetic differentiation and phenotypic
plasticity affect thermal performance, but the effects of sex and
developmental temperatures often go uncharacterized. We used common garden
experiments to test for effects of local adaptation (Florida versus
Connecticut temperatures), developmental phenotypic plasticity (18oC vs.
22oC), and individual sex on thermal performance of the ubiquitous
copepod, Acartia tonsa. Females had higher thermal tolerance than males in
both populations, while the Florida population had higher thermal
tolerance compared to the Connecticut population. An effect of
developmental phenotypic plasticity on thermal tolerance was observed only
in the Connecticut population. Ignoring sex-specific differences may
result in a severe underestimation of population-level impacts of warming
(i.e. - population decline due to sperm limitation). Further, despite
having a higher thermal tolerance, Southern populations may be more
vulnerable to warming as they lack the ability to respond to increases in
temperature through phenotypic plasticity.