Abstract
Resource availability during development shapes not only adult phenotype but also the phenotype of subsequent offspring. When resources are absent and periods of starvation occur in early life, such developmental stress often influences key life-history traits in a way that benefits individuals and their offspring when facing further bouts of starvation. Here we investigated the impacts of different starvation regimes during larval development on life-history traits and measures of consumption in the turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). We then assessed whether offspring of starved and non-starved parents differed in their own life-history if reared in conditions that either matched that of their parents or were a mismatch. Early life starvation effects were more pronounced within than across generations in A. rosae, with negative impacts on adult body mass and increases in developmental time, but no effects on adult longevity in either generation. We found some evidence of higher growth rates in larvae having experienced starvation, although this did not ameliorate the overall negative effect of larval starvation on adult size. However, further work is necessary to disentangle the effects of larval size and instar from those of starvation treatment. Finally, we found weak evidence for transgenerational effects on larval growth, with intra-generational larval starvation experience being more decisive for life-history traits. Our study demonstrates that intra-generational effects of starvation are stronger than transgenerational effects on life-history traits and consumption measures in A. rosae.
Highlights
As a major determinant of growth and developmental trajectories, resource abundance in early life plays a crucial role in shaping an individual’s phenotype [1], not least because many of the phenotypic changes that occur in early life persist into adulthood [2,3]
Adult females were heavier than adult males and adult body mass decreased with increasing bouts of starvation, the interaction between treatment and sex was not significant
Whilst our results demonstrate the negative impacts of starvation in early life on survival, development time and adult body mass, the effects of larval starvation on consumption and growth were more complex
Summary
As a major determinant of growth and developmental trajectories, resource abundance in early life plays a crucial role in shaping an individual’s phenotype [1], not least because many of the phenotypic changes that occur in early life persist into adulthood [2,3]. Resource limitation during early life can have long-term detrimental effects on an individual’s phenotype, negatively influencing key life-history traits and decreasing fitness [4–. If the resource conditions in early life match those in later life, such alterations in an individual’s phenotype may confer significant fitness advantages [7,8]. These phenotypic changes can be inherited by offspring, resulting in adaptive transgenerational effects if environmental matching persists or the parental condition overall leads to fitness advantages [9,10,11]. It is crucial that research into the long-term effects of resource abundance in early life considers variation in resource quality or quantity (low to high), and these periods of acute non-lethal starvation
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