The effects of food level and social density on reproduction in the Least Killifish, Heterandria formosa.

Abstract

The feedbacks from population density to demographic parameters, which drive population regulation, are the accumulated results of several ecological processes. The compensatory feedback from increased population density to fertility includes at least two distinct factors, the effects of decreases in per capita food level and increases in the social density (the number of interacting individuals). Because these effects have been studied separately, their relative importance is unknown. It is also unclear whether food limitation and social density combine additively to influence fertility. We investigated these questions with two factorial experiments on reproduction in the Least Killifish, Heterandria formosa. In one experiment, we crossed two levels of density with two levels of a total food ration that was distributed to all individuals. In the other experiment, we crossed two levels of density with two levels of per capita food. Whereas the first experiment suggested that the effects of variation in food level and density were synergistic, the second experiment indicated that they were not. The apparent synergism—the statistical interaction of food and density levels—was the result of confounding per capita food with social density in that design. In the second experiment, the effects of social density on reproductive rate were stronger than the effects of food level, whereas the effects of food level were stronger on offspring size at parturition than those of social density. The results suggest that the social stresses that emerge at higher densities play an important role in the compensatory response of fertility to density, a role, that is, at least as important as that of decreased per capita food levels.