Data from: Rapid evolution of increased vulnerability to an insecticide at the expansion front in a poleward moving damselfly

Many species are too slow to track their poleward moving climate niche under global warming. Pesticide exposure may contribute to this by reducing population growth and impairing flight ability. Moreover, edge populations at the moving range front may be more vulnerable to pesticides because of the rapid evolution of traits to enhance their rate of spread that shunt energy away from detoxification and repair. We exposed replicated edge and core populations of the poleward moving damselfly Coenagrion scitulum to the pesticide esfenvalerate at low and high densities. Exposure to esfenvalerate had strong negative effects on survival, growth rate and development time in the larval stage and negatively affected flight-related adult traits (mass at emergence, flight muscle mass and fat content) across metamorphosis. Pesticide effects did not differ between edge and core populations, except that at the high concentration the pesticide-induced mortality was 17% stronger in edge populations. Pesticide exposure may therefore slow down the range expansion by lowering population growth rates, especially because edge populations suffered a higher mortality, and by negatively affecting dispersal ability by impairing flight-related traits. These results emphasize the need for direct conservation efforts toward leading-edge populations for facilitating future range shifts under global warming.在全球变暖背景下，多数物种的迁移速率无法跟上其向极地方向移动的气候生态位（climate niche）。农药暴露可通过降低种群增长率、损害飞行能力，加剧这一窘境。此外，分布范围移动前沿的边缘种群（edge populations）对农药的敏感性可能更高：这类种群为提升扩散速率，会快速演化相关性状，进而将能量从解毒与修复过程中转移。本研究将经重复实验的、随分布范围向极地移动的秀丽蟌（Coenagrion scitulum）的边缘种群与核心种群（core populations），分别置于低密度与高密度条件下，暴露于氟氰戊菊酯（esfenvalerate）。结果显示，氟氰戊菊酯暴露对幼虫阶段的存活率、生长速率与发育时长均产生显著负面影响，且在整个变态发育（metamorphosis）过程中，对成虫的飞行相关性状（羽化体重、飞行肌质量与脂肪含量）同样存在不利影响。农药对两类种群的整体影响并无显著差异，仅在高浓度条件下，边缘种群的农药诱导死亡率较核心种群高出17%。因此，农药暴露可通过降低种群增长率（尤其是边缘种群死亡率更高的情况下），以及损害飞行相关性状以削弱扩散能力（dispersal ability），减缓物种的分布范围扩张进程。本研究结果表明，在全球变暖背景下，为助力物种未来的分布范围迁移，需针对分布前沿种群开展针对性的保护工作。