Life history traits predict relative abundance in an assemblage of forest caterpillars

Ecology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 91 (11) ◽  
pp. 3274-3283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Lind ◽  
Pedro Barbosa
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Liu ◽  
Siddiq Akbar ◽  
Zihao Ding ◽  
Qiming Zhou ◽  
Lei Gu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Gut microbiota plays an important role in host physiology and fitness. The gut microbiota can promote host health by influencing life history traits, especially in arthropods. However, it is not clear whether the performance of host defense traits in response to predator pressure in natural food webs is related to their gut microbiota composition. In this study, we used Daphnia magna as a model organism to investigate the relationship of D. magna life history traits and gut microbiota alterations under predator kairomone based on 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.Result: We showed that the microbiota composition of D. magna was significantly affected by their predator risk and development stage. The relative abundance of Comamonadaceae (mainly Limnohabitans sp.) significantly decreased in the presence of predator kairomone. Furthermore, the presence of predator kairomone significantly reduced the α diversity of gut microbiota in D. magna with the increase of instar. Among them, the OTUs belonged to Epsilonbacteraeota and Firmicutes in the presence of predator kairomone were significantly higher than those in the control group. The results of functional predictions showed that predation pressure promote the metabolic function of gut microbiota, such as metabolism of energy, cofactors, and vitamins. By analyzing the correlation between the induced defense traits of D. magna and the relative abundance of bacteria, we found that the increased abundance of Comamonadaceae, Moraxellaceae, and Flavobacteriaceae were linearly correlated with the partial defense traits of D. magna. Specifically speaking, body size was positively correlated with an increased abundance of Comamonadaceae, whereas spine length was negatively correlated with an increased abundance of Comamonadaceae but was positively correlated with increased Flavobacteriaceae abundance. Conclusions: Our results suggested that predation risk can affect the composition of the gut microbiota in D. magna, which may indirectly induce the production of defensive traits in D. magna. The results of this study revealed an important role of gut microbiota in the development of defensive traits of Daphnia in response to fish predators. The correlation between microbial abundance and defense traits is of great significance for further understanding the effect of host-microbiota interaction on individual anti-predation defense.


2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
HW Fennie ◽  
S Sponaugle ◽  
EA Daly ◽  
RD Brodeur

Predation is a major source of mortality in the early life stages of fishes and a driving force in shaping fish populations. Theoretical, modeling, and laboratory studies have generated hypotheses that larval fish size, age, growth rate, and development rate affect their susceptibility to predation. Empirical data on predator selection in the wild are challenging to obtain, and most selective mortality studies must repeatedly sample populations of survivors to indirectly examine survivorship. While valuable on a population scale, these approaches can obscure selection by particular predators. In May 2018, along the coast of Washington, USA, we simultaneously collected juvenile quillback rockfish Sebastes maliger from both the environment and the stomachs of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch. We used otolith microstructure analysis to examine whether juvenile coho salmon were age-, size-, and/or growth-selective predators of juvenile quillback rockfish. Our results indicate that juvenile rockfish consumed by salmon were significantly smaller, slower growing at capture, and younger than surviving (unconsumed) juvenile rockfish, providing direct evidence that juvenile coho salmon are selective predators on juvenile quillback rockfish. These differences in early life history traits between consumed and surviving rockfish are related to timing of parturition and the environmental conditions larval rockfish experienced, suggesting that maternal effects may substantially influence survival at this stage. Our results demonstrate that variability in timing of parturition and sea surface temperature leads to tradeoffs in early life history traits between growth in the larval stage and survival when encountering predators in the pelagic juvenile stage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-200
Author(s):  
Ufuk Bülbül ◽  
Halime Koç ◽  
Yasemin Odabaş ◽  
Ali İhsan Eroğlu ◽  
Muammer Kurnaz ◽  
...  

Age structure of the eastern spadefoot toad, Pelobates syriacus from the Kızılırmak Delta (Turkey) were assessed using phalangeal skeletochronology. Snout-vent length (SVL) ranged from 42.05 to 86.63 mm in males and 34.03 to 53.27 mm in females. Age of adults ranged from 2 to 8 years in males and 3 to 5 years in females. For both sexes, SVL was significantly correlated with age. Males and females of the toads reached maturity at 2 years of age.


Author(s):  
Maren N. Vitousek ◽  
Laura A. Schoenle

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.


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