Abstract
The elemental composition of organisms belongs to a suite of functional traits that may adaptively respond to fluctuating selection pressures. Life history theory predicts that predation risk and resource limitations impose selection pressures on organisms’ developmental time and are further associated with variability in energetic and behavioral traits. Individual differences in developmental speed, behaviors and physiology have been explained using the pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis. However, how an organism’s developmental speed is linked with elemental body composition, metabolism and behavior is not well understood. We compared elemental body composition, latency to resume activity and resting metabolic rate (RMR) of western stutter-trilling crickets (Gryllus integer) in three selection lines that differ in developmental speed. We found that slowly developing crickets had significantly higher body carbon, lower body nitrogen and higher carbon-to-nitrogen ratio than rapidly developing crickets. Slowly developing crickets had significantly higher RMR than rapidly developing crickets. Male crickets had higher RMR than females. Slowly developing crickets resumed activity faster in an unfamiliar relative to a familiar environment. The rapidly developing crickets did the opposite. The results highlight the tight association between life history, physiology and behavior. This study indicates that traditional methods used in POLS research should be complemented by those used in ecological stoichiometry, resulting in a synthetic approach that potentially advances the whole field of behavioral and physiological ecology.
Highlights
Ecological communities consist of a variety of species and are shaped by a complex array of intra- and interspecific interactions that maintain nutrient and energy flows through ecosystems (Meunier et al, 2017; Sperfeld et al, 2017)
Developing crickets had less body C (%; 50.5 ± 3.5, mean ± SD) than slowly developing (52.7 ± 3.0, mean ± SD) and control (53.0 ± 3.5, mean ± SD) crickets (Tukey’s tests, P = 0.047 and P = 0.02, respectively), while slowly developing and control crickets did not differ in body C (Tukey’s test, P = 0.96; Figure 1A)
Our results show that differences in pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) alter insect body stoichiometry and that those changes were associated with different behavioral and physiological stress responses
Summary
Ecological communities consist of a variety of species and are shaped by a complex array of intra- and interspecific interactions that maintain nutrient and energy flows through ecosystems (Meunier et al, 2017; Sperfeld et al, 2017). For any given individual, the availability of resources in any particular environment is limited; time, effort and energy used for one purpose diminish those available for another (Stearns, 1992; Sperfeld et al, 2017) This often causes trade-offs in allocations of an individual’s resources to such competing life functions as immunity, reproduction, self-maintenance, development and growth (Roff, 1992; Krams et al, 2013a; Luoto, 2019). Ecological stoichiometry, a framework based on energetics, links the study of these trade-offs with the relative supply of elements in the environment and the metabolic demands and physiological traits of organisms (Meunier et al, 2017; Sperfeld et al, 2017)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
