What question did this study set out to answer?

To resolve why the preferred body temperatures of ectotherms routinely fall below the temperatures that maximize their physiological performance and fitness.

January 24, 2008The American Naturalist

Why “Suboptimal” Is Optimal: Jensen’s Inequality and Ectotherm Thermal Preferences

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Authors

TMTara Laine Martin RHRaymond B. HueyUniversity of Nevada, Reno

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Implication

Mathematical modeling demonstrates shifted thermal preferences in ectotherms, indicating that asymmetric performance curves and temperature variance penalize overheating.

Key Points

To resolve why the preferred body temperatures of ectotherms routinely fall below the temperatures that maximize their physiological performance and fitness.
Formulated a mathematical optimality model incorporating Jensen's inequality to determine how temperature variance and skewness affect fitness across nonlinear thermal performance curves.
Tested theoretical model predictions using comparative physiological and thermal preference data from insects and lizards.
Demonstrated that the optimal target body temperature is systematically lower than the temperature maximizing fitness because fitness curves drop off more steeply above the optimum than below it.
Identified that the magnitude of this downward shift increases with greater body temperature variance and stronger fitness curve asymmetry, with larger shifts occurring in thermal specialists.

Cite This Study

Martin et al. (2008) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d8f6cd1ab91f1400bedda7 https://doi.org/10.1086/527502

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Implication

Mathematical modeling demonstrates shifted thermal preferences in ectotherms, indicating that asymmetric performance curves and temperature variance penalize overheating.

Why “Suboptimal” Is Optimal: Jensen’s Inequality and Ectotherm Thermal Preferences

Discussion

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Why “Suboptimal” Is Optimal: Jensen’s Inequality and Ectotherm Thermal Preferences

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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