scholarly journals Effects of early nutritional stress on physiology, life histories and their trade-offs in a model ectothermic vertebrate

2019 ◽  
Vol 222 (11) ◽  
pp. jeb200220
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn G. Holden ◽  
Dawn M. Reding ◽  
Neil B. Ford ◽  
Anne M. Bronikowski
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Nutritional Stress ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Ectothermic Vertebrate

Hormones and Behavior

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-26
Author(s):  
Maren N. Vitousek ◽  
Laura A. Schoenle
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
And Behavior

Hormones mediate the expression of life history traits—phenotypic traits that contribute to lifetime fitness (i.e., reproductive timing, growth rate, number and size of offspring). The endocrine system shapes phenotype by organizing tissues during developmental periods and by activating changes in behavior, physiology, and morphology in response to varying physical and social environments. Because hormones can simultaneously regulate many traits (hormonal pleiotropy), they are important mediators of life history trade-offs among growth, reproduction, and survival. This chapter reviews the role of hormones in shaping life histories with an emphasis on developmental plasticity and reversible flexibility in endocrine and life history traits. It also discusses the advantages of studying hormone–behavior interactions from an evolutionary perspective. Recent research in evolutionary endocrinology has provided insight into the heritability of endocrine traits, how selection on hormone systems may influence the evolution of life histories, and the role of hormonal pleiotropy in driving or constraining evolution.

scholarly journals Introduction. Antarctic ecology: from genes to ecosystems. Part 2. Evolution, diversity and functional ecology

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1488) ◽  
pp. 2187-2189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex D Rogers ◽  
Eugene J Murphy ◽  
Nadine M Johnston ◽  
Andrew Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Antarctic Species ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Genes To Ecosystems ◽  
Micro Organisms ◽  
The Antarctic

The Antarctic biota has evolved over the last 100 million years in increasingly isolated and cold conditions. As a result, Antarctic species, from micro-organisms to vertebrates, have adapted to life at extremely low temperatures, including changes in the genome, physiology and ecological traits such as life history. Coupled with cycles of glaciation that have promoted speciation in the Antarctic, this has led to a unique biota in terms of biogeography, patterns of species distribution and endemism. Specialization in the Antarctic biota has led to trade-offs in many ecologically important functions and Antarctic species may have a limited capacity to adapt to present climate change. These include the direct effects of changes in environmental parameters and indirect effects of increased competition and predation resulting from altered life histories of Antarctic species and the impacts of invasive species. Ultimately, climate change may alter the responses of Antarctic ecosystems to harvesting from humans. The unique adaptations of Antarctic species mean that they provide unique models of molecular evolution in natural populations. The simplicity of Antarctic communities, especially from terrestrial systems, makes them ideal to investigate the ecological implications of climate change, which are difficult to identify in more complex systems.

Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques

2010 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Environmental Heterogeneity ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Metapopulation Dynamics ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Trade Offs

<em>Abstract</em>.—Stream fishes carry out their life histories across broad spatial and temporal scales, leading to spatially structured populations. Therefore, incorporating metapopulation dynamics into models of stream fish populations may improve our ability to understand mechanisms regulating them. First, we reviewed empirical research on metapopulation dynamics in the stream fish ecology literature and found 31 papers that used the metapopulation framework. The majority of papers applied no specific metapopulation model, or included space only implicitly. Although parameterization of spatially realistic models is challenging, we suggest that stream fish ecologists should incorporate space into models and recognize that metapopulation types may change across scales. Second, we considered metacommunity theory, which addresses how trade-offs among dispersal, environmental heterogeneity, and biotic interactions structure communities across spatial scales. There are no explicit tests of metacommunity theory using stream fishes to date, so we used data from our research in a Great Plains stream to test the utility of these paradigms. We found that this plains fish metacommunity was structured mainly by spatial factors related to dispersal opportunity and, to a lesser extent, by environmental heterogeneity. Currently, metacommunity models are more heuristic than predictive. Therefore, we propose that future stream fish metacommunity research should focus on developing testable hypotheses that incorporate stream fish life history attributes, and seasonal environmental variability, across spatial scales. This emerging body of research is likely to be valuable not only for basic stream fish ecological research, but also multispecies conservation and management.

scholarly journals The evolutionary convergence of avian lifestyles and their constrained coevolution with species' ecological niche

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1821) ◽  
pp. 20151808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Laiolo ◽  
Javier Seoane ◽  
Juan Carlos Illera ◽  
Giulia Bastianelli ◽  
Luis María Carrascal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Cost Of Reproduction ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Realized Niche ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Species Variability

The fit between life histories and ecological niche is a paradigm of phenotypic evolution, also widely used to explain patterns of species co-occurrence. By analysing the lifestyles of a sympatric avian assemblage, we show that species' solutions to environmental problems are not unbound. We identify a life-history continuum structured on the cost of reproduction along a temperature gradient, as well as habitat-driven parental behaviour. However, environmental fit and trait convergence are limited by niche filling and by within-species variability of niche traits, which is greater than variability of life histories. Phylogeny, allometry and trade-offs are other important constraints: lifetime reproductive investment is tightly bound to body size, and the optimal allocation to reproduction for a given size is not established by niche characteristics but by trade-offs with survival. Life histories thus keep pace with habitat and climate, but under the limitations imposed by metabolism, trade-offs among traits and species' realized niche.

Evolution of tree killing in bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): trade-offs between the maddening crowds and a sticky situation

2013 ◽  
Vol 145 (5) ◽  
pp. 471-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.S. Lindgren ◽  
K.F. Raffa
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Host Defence ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Attraction System ◽  
Functional Shift

AbstractBark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) play important roles in temperate conifer ecosystems, and also cause substantial economic losses. Although their general life histories are relatively similar, different species vary markedly in the physiological condition of the hosts they select. Most of ∼6000 known species colonise dead or stressed trees, a resource they share with a large diversity of insects and other organisms. A small number of bark beetle species kill healthy, live trees. These few are of particular interest as they compete directly with humans for resources. We propose that tree killing evolved when intense interspecific competition in the ephemeral, scarce resource of defence-impaired trees selected for genotypes that allowed them to escape this limitation by attacking relatively healthy trees. These transitions were uncommon, and we suggest they were facilitated by (a) genetically and phenotypically flexible host selection behaviours, (b) biochemical adaptations for detoxifying a wide range of defence compounds, and (c) associations with symbionts, which together aided bark beetles in overcoming formidable constitutive and induced host defences. The ability to detoxify terpenes influenced the evolutionary course of pheromonal communication. Specifically, a mate attraction system, which was exploited by intraspecific competitors in locating poorly defended hosts, became a system of cooperative attack in which emitters benefit from the contributions responders make in overcoming defence. This functional shift in communication was driven in part by linkage of beetle semiochemistry to host defence chemistry. Behavioural and phenological adaptations also improved the beetles’ abilities to detect when tree defences are impaired, and, where compatible with life history adaptations to other selective forces, for flight to coincide with seasonally predictable host stress agents. We propose a conceptual model, whereby the above mechanisms enable beetles to concentrate on those trees that offer an optimal trade-off between host defence and interspecific competition, along dynamic gradients of tree vigour and stand-level beetle density. We offer suggestions for future research on testing elements of this model.

Life histories of North American game birds: a reanalysis

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (8) ◽  
pp. 1906-1912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd W. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
North American ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Cost Of Reproduction ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Game Birds ◽  
The Cost

Recently, Zammuto (R. M. Zammuto. 1986. Can. J. Zool. 64: 2739–2749) suggested that North American game birds exhibited survival–fecundity trade-offs consistent with the "cost of reproduction" hypothesis. However, there were four serious problems with the data and the analyses that Zammuto used: (i) the species chosen for analysis ("game birds") showed little taxonomic or ecological uniformity, (ii) the measures of future reproductive value (maximum longevity) were severely biased by unequal sample sizes of band recoveries, (iii) the measures of current reproductive effort (clutch sizes) were inappropriate given that most of the birds analyzed produce self-feeding precocial offspring, and (iv) the statistical units used in the majority of analyses (species) were not statistically independent with respect to higher level taxonomy. After correcting these problems, I found little evidence of survival–fecundity trade-offs among precocial game birds, and I attribute most of the explainable variation in life-history traits of these birds to allometry, phylogeny, and geography.

scholarly journals Patterns of Life-History Diversification in North American Fishes: implications for Population Regulation

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 2196-2218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk O. Winemiller ◽  
Kenneth A. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
North American ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Large Species ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Adult Growth ◽  
Trade Offs

Interspecific patterns of fish life histories were evaluated in relation to several theoretical models of life-history evolution. Data were gathered for 216 North American fish species (57 families) to explore relationships among variables and to ordinate species. Multivariate tests, performed on freshwater, marine, and combined data matrices, repeatedly identified a gradient associating later-maturing fishes with higher fecundity, small eggs, and few bouts of reproduction during a short spawning season and the opposite suite of traits with small fishes. A second strong gradient indicated positive associations between parental care, egg size, and extended breeding seasons. Phylogeny affected each variable, and some higher taxonomic groupings were associated with particular life-history strategies. High-fecundity characteristics tended to be associated with large species ranges in the marine environment. Age at maturation, adult growth rate, life span, and egg size positively correlated with anadromy. Parental care was inversely correlated with median latitude. A trilateral continuum based on essential trade-offs among three demographic variables predicts many of the correlations among life-history traits. This framework has implications for predicting population responses to diverse natural and anthropogenic disturbances and provides a basis for comparing responses of different species to the same disturbance.

scholarly journals The influence of juvenile and adult environments on life-history trajectories

2005 ◽  
Vol 273 (1587) ◽  
pp. 741-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Taborsky
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Juvenile Growth ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Adult Growth ◽  
Trade Offs

There is increasing evidence that the environment experienced early in life can strongly influence adult life histories. It is largely unknown, however, how past and present conditions influence suites of life-history traits regarding major life-history trade-offs. Especially in animals with indeterminate growth, we may expect that environmental conditions of juveniles and adults independently or interactively influence the life-history trade-off between growth and reproduction after maturation. Juvenile growth conditions may initiate a feedback loop determining adult allocation patterns, triggered by size-dependent mortality risk. I tested this possibility in a long-term growth experiment with mouthbrooding cichlids. Females were raised either on a high-food or low-food diet. After maturation half of them were switched to the opposite treatment, while the other half remained unchanged. Adult growth was determined by current resource availability, but key reproductive traits like reproductive rate and offspring size were only influenced by juvenile growth conditions, irrespective of the ration received as adults. Moreover, the allocation of resources to growth versus reproduction and to offspring number versus size were shaped by juvenile rather than adult ecology. These results indicate that early individual history must be considered when analysing causes of life-history variation in natural populations.

scholarly journals Foundress Number, But Not Queen Size or Boldness, Predicts Colony Life-History in Wild Paper Wasps

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin M. Wright ◽  
David N. Fisher ◽  
Wayne V. Nerone ◽  
James L.L. Lichtenstein ◽  
Elizabeth A. Tibbetts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Paper Wasps ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Behavioral Tendencies ◽  
Queen Size

AbstractColonies of social insects exhibit a spectacular variety of life histories. Here we documented the degree of variation in colony life-history traits, mostly related to productivity, in two species of wild paper wasps. We then tested for associations between colony life-history traits to look for trade-offs or positively associated syndromes, and examined whether individual differences in the behavioral tendencies of foundresses (Polistes metricus) or the number of cofoundresses (P. fuscatus) influenced colony life-history. The majority of our measures of colony life-history were positively related, indicating no obvious resource allocation trade-offs. Instead, the positive association of traits into a productivity syndrome appears to be driven by differences in queen or microhabitat quality. Syndrome structure differed only marginally between species. Queen boldness and body size were not associated with colony life-history inP. metricus. Colonies initiated by multipleP. fuscatusfoundresses were generally more productive, and this advantage was approximately proportional to the number of cofoundresses. These findings demonstrate that colony life-history traits can be associated together much like individual life-history traits, and the associations seen here convey that differences in overall productivity drive between-colony differences in life-history.

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