Geographic Variation In Life-history Traits Research Articles

Geographical Variation in Body Size in the Asian Common Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus).

The geographic variation in life-history traits of organisms and the mechanisms underlying adaptation are interesting ideas in evolutionary biology. This study investigated age and body size of the Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) among five populations along a geographical gradient. We found that geographical variation in age was non-significant among populations but there was a significant and positive correlation between mean age and body size. Although the body size values at 1043 m are quite different from other sites, after controlling for age effects, there was a significant positive correlation between altitude and body size. Our findings followed the predictions of Bergmann's rule, suggesting that the body size of D. melanostictus is potentially influenced by the low air temperatures at higher altitudes.

Geographic Variation in Life-History Traits of Black Sea Bass (Centropristis striata) During a Rapid Range Expansion

The warming of the world’s oceans has resulted in the redistribution of many marine species globally. As species undergo range shifts, the expanding edge of the population often experiences novel environmental and demographic conditions that may result in the emergence of variation in life-history strategies. The northern stock of black sea bass, Centropristis striata, has recently expanded its distribution poleward, into the Gulf of Maine. Management has struggled to keep pace with this rapid range shift, in part, because very little is known about the expanding population. We compared life-history traits of black sea bass collected from 2013-2016 from the northern most point of the historic range of the northern stock (southern Massachusetts) to those from two areas in the newly expanded range (northern Massachusetts and Maine). We found significant differences in size, diet, condition, maturity and sex ratio between black sea bass from southern Massachusetts and the Gulf of Maine. Overall, sea bass in the newly expanded range consumed a less diverse diet and their condition was lower, but they reached maturity at a younger age. We also found greater length- and age-at-maturity estimates from all regions combined compared to the most recent black sea bass stock assessment which includes data from Cape Hatteras, NC to southern Massachusetts. This study represents initial observations of life-history traits of sea bass in its newly expanded range in the Gulf of Maine, and suggests that these sea bass exhibit life-history strategies that differ from their southern counterparts within their historic range. Given these findings, the stock assessment for the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf black sea bass stock may not be adequate for sea bass in the Gulf of Maine. Studies investigating the expanding edge of economically valuable fishery species are needed to aid in ongoing and future efforts to assess and manage their stocks.

Geographic variation in life-history traits of the long-lived monacanthid Meuschenia scaber (Monacanthidae)

Demography and life-history characteristics of reef fishes may vary as a consequence of ecological and environmental factors that lead to changes among populations. We evaluated variation in life-history traits in the leatherjacket Meuschenia scaber (Monacanthidae) through age-based analysis of 2112 fish collected from three locations in New Zealand distributed along an 8° latitudinal and 5 °C SST gradients. Meuschenia scaber showed distinct differences in age structure, growth patterns, maximum size and age, sex ratio and mortality across this latitudinal gradient. At warmer lower latitudes (Hauraki Gulf) the population displayed significantly greater mean adult body size (Lmax) and asymptotic length (L∞) in comparison with the other two locations. Fish from Tasman Bay (mid-range latitude) had a longer life span (Tmax) and a maximum age of 19 years, which represents the longest-lived monacanthid documented to date. Fish from Pegasus Bay (cooler higher latitude) showed a slower initial growth than lower latitude counterparts. The difference in maximum age between the sexes declined clinally from 7 years in the Hauraki Gulf to 3 years in Tasman Bay and 1 year in Pegasus Bay. Meuschenia scaber females tended to display heavier and larger body size than males at all three locations. Sex ratios varied among populations and with depth, suggesting females in the Hauraki Gulf and Tasman Bay may move into deeper water with age. Given the increasing global exploitation of monacanthids in multispecies fisheries and their long-living nature, our results provide valuable age-based demographic information essential for future conservation, monitoring and management programs.

Geographical variation in life-history traits suggests an environmental-dependent trade-off between juvenile growth rate and adult lifespan in a moth.

Life-history theory predicts a trade-off between the juvenile growth rate and adult traits related to survival. However, this hypothesized negative correlation is difficult to test robustly because many trade-offs are mild, and environmental variables, such as changes in nutrient availability, can ameliorate the trade-off or make it more pronounced. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that the expression of the trade-off can be condition-dependent. In the present study, we first examined the pre-adult life-history traits of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, collected from northern, central, and southern China at different temperatures. We found that the northern China population has a significantly shorter pre-adult developmental time and higher growth rate than the southern China population as a result of adaptation to the decreased seasonal length. Then, we tested for a trade-off between the juvenile growth rate and adult lifespan in different temperature and nutrient conditions. We found a negative relationship between juvenile growth rate and adult lifespan under starvation or desiccation conditions; however, a continuous supply of sugar can diminish or obviate the apparent negative relationship, in which the adult lifespan did not show a significant difference in most of the comparisons. These results suggested a resource-mediated trade-off may exist between juvenile growth rate and adult lifespan. However, the adult size may have some positive effect on the lifespan under starvation and desiccation conditions, which may affect the expression of trade-off.

Geographic variation in life-history traits: growth season affects age structure, egg size and clutch size in Andrew's toad (Bufo andrewsi).

BackgroundEnvironmental variation associated with season length is likely to promote differentiation in life-history traits, but has been little studied in natural populations of ectotherms. We investigated patterns of variation in egg size, clutch size, age at sexual maturity, maximum age, mean age, growth rate and adult body size in relation to growth season length among 17 populations of Andrew’s toad (Bufo andrewsi) at different latitudes and altitudes in the Hengduan Mountains, western China.ResultsWe found that egg size, age at sexual maturity, and mean age increased with decreasing length of the growth season, whereas clutch size showed a converse cline. Body size did not increase with decreasing length of the growth season, but was tightly linked to lifetime activity (i.e. the estimated number of active days during lifetime). Males and females differed in their patterns of geographic variation in growth rates, which may be the result of forces shaping the trade-off between growth and reproduction in different environments.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that growth season plays an important role in shaping variation in life-history traits in B. andrewsi across geographical gradients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12983-016-0138-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Developmental plasticity increases at the northern range margin in a warm-dependent amphibian.

Accurate predictions regarding how climate change affects species and populations are crucial for the development of effective conservation measures. However, models forecasting the impact of climate change on natural environments do not often consider the geographic variation of an organism's life history. We examined variation in developmental plasticity to changing temperature in the pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) across its distribution by studying populations from central areas (Poland), edge populations (Latvia) and northern marginal populations (Sweden). Relative to central and edge populations, northern populations experience lower and less variable temperature and fewer episodes of warm weather during larval development. Plasticity in larval life-history traits was highest at the northern range margin: larvae from marginal populations shortened larval period and increased growth rate more than larvae from central and edge populations when reared at high temperature. Maintaining high growth and development under the scarce spells of warm weather is likely adaptive for high-latitude populations. The detection of high levels of developmental plasticity in isolated, marginal populations suggests that they may be better able to respond to the temperature regimes expected under climate change than often predicted, reflecting the need to incorporate geographic variation in life-history traits into models forecasting responses to environmental change.

Latitudinal and seasonal variation in reproductive effort of the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)

Geographic variation in life-history traits among populations of wide-ranging species is influenced by both spatial and temporal aspects of the environment. Rarely, however, are the effects of both aspects examined concurrently. We collected gravid female lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) from northern (Indiana), central (Mississippi) and southern (Florida) populations, spanning nearly the full latitudinal range of the species, to examine among population differences in strategies of reproductive energy allocation. Adult females from the southern population were smaller, and produced fewer and smaller eggs in their first clutches than did females from the more northern populations. Southern females were more likely to produce a second clutch, and second clutches were smaller than first clutches for females from the 2 northern populations. Together these trends eliminated population differences in overall reproductive output after accounting for body size. The trend for greater reproductive energy to be allocated to first clutches at higher latitudes, and to later clutches at lower latitudes is corroborated by published data from field studies on multiple populations. Distributing reproductive effort by producing more clutches of smaller eggs may be an adaptive response to the long season available for egg incubation and lizard activity in sub-tropical southern environments. In contrast, allocating greater resources to early reproduction may enhance maternal fitness in the relatively short activity seasons that characterize more northern sites.

Trait and abundance patterns in two marine molluscs: the influence of abiotic conditions operating across multiple spatial scales

Theoretical mechanisms describing species abundance distributions should also underpin geographic variation in life-history traits. However, recent studies suggest that abun- dance and trait patterns may not co-vary and may respond differently to abiotic conditions acting at different spatial scales. We examined patterns in abundance and body size of 2 estuarine mol- luscs, the arkshell Anadara trapezia and the mudsnail Batillaria australis, across their wide distri- butions in eastern Australia. We related abundance and body size patterns to abiotic variables including water temperature, pH, salinity, sediment redox and dissolved oxygen content at multi- ple spatial scales. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) geographic patterns in abundance and body size do not co-vary, and (2) patterns in abundance are more strongly influenced by abiotic condi- tions occurring at a large spatial scale (e.g. across latitudinal gradients) whereas body size is more strongly influenced by variation in abiotic conditions occurring at smaller scales. The influence of spatial scale and associated abiotic variables on abundance and body size distributions was deter- mined using multiple linear regression, ANOVA and variance component analyses. Geographic variation in abundance and body size were independent of each other in both species. Abiotic variation across latitudinal gradients was the strongest predictor of abundance, but factors that varied substantially at local scales (e.g. dissolved oxygen and sediment redox) were the strongest predictors of body size. Our data indicate that geographic patterns in body size and abundance can be disconnected from each other, most likely due to differential responses to abiotic variation acting at different spatial scales.

Evaluating a habitat template model's predictions of marine fish diversity on the Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy, Northwest Atlantic

Abstract Fisher, J. A. D., Frank, K. T., Kostylev, V. E., Shackell, N. L., Horsman, T., and Hannah, C. G. 2011. Evaluating a habitat template model's predictions of marine fish diversity on the Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy, Northwest Atlantic. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 2096–2105. Habitat template models that integrate physical, chemical, and biological data have the potential to explain geographic variation in life-history traits within assemblages and to predict locations where species will be most vulnerable to anthropogenic impact. A previously developed model based on spatial variations in scope for growth (SG) and natural disturbance (ND) for the Scotian Shelf/Bay of Fundy was tested for its ability to predict fish life-history traits, species diversity, and community composition using trawl survey data. Of 30 dominant fish species, large, slow-growing ones most vulnerable to overexploitation tended to be found in naturally stable habitats. Among consistently co-occurring groups, functional differentiation, rather than similarity of life history, characterized assemblages, whereas among survey strata, species richness peaked at intermediate levels of ND and species evenness increased with average SG. Community composition was significantly correlated with both habitat variables, declined by 40% through time preceding structural changes on the eastern Scotian Shelf, but geographic distance, depth, and bottom temperature remained more strongly related to composition. The results revealed compelling matches between template predictions and patterns of fish species diversity, but low variation in diversity of life history, and mobility of fish may account for some of the weaker matches to model predictions.

Pattern-oriented modelling for estimating unknown pre-breeding survival rates: The case of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ( Picoides minor)

In population viability analysis we are often faced with a lack of knowledge of survival rates in animal populations. In particular, survival of recruits is usually hard to assess. However, data on population structure might be considered as patterns that contain valuable information to estimate missing parameters indirectly. As an example for this pattern-oriented modelling and parameterization, pre-breeding survival rate of the endangered Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ( Picoides minor) was determined here using data on population structure (e.g. sex ratio) and reproductive success at the population level (e.g. nesting success). Therefore, an individual-based model was developed simulating the population dynamics for two different populations that had been empirically studied at Lake Möckeln, Sweden, and Taunus, Germany. For both populations, a small range for pre-breeding survival rates could be identified wherein all simulated patterns corresponded best to the empirical values. Pre-breeding survival rate was found to be higher in the German scenario than in the Swedish and geographical variation in life-history traits is discussed as a possible reason. It is concluded that the pattern-oriented approach is a valuable method for estimating missing demographic parameters, even when using weak patterns from empirical investigations. Furthermore, it was shown that the use of multiple patterns is necessary for this purpose.

Life history and reproductive ecology of White's skink, Egernia whitii

The life history and reproductive ecology of White’s skink, Egernia whitii, was examined in a population in the Australian Capital Territory using both field and genetic studies. Colour pattern polymorphism was evident within the population, with both patterned and plain-back morphs present. Lizards typically took 3 years to reach sexual maturity, with the size at maturity being ~75 mm snout–vent length (SVL) in both sexes. There was an even overall adult sex ratio, although a slight female-bias was evident in plain-back individuals. Sexual dimorphism was evident, with males having longer and wider heads, and females having larger body size. Females generally bred annually, with mating occurring in September–October and parturition in late January–February, although the litter was produced over several days (2–10 days, mean 4 days). Litter size ranged from one to four (mean of 2.5). There was a significant relationship between maternal SVL and both litter size and relative clutch mass, but these trends were not consistent between colour morphs. An inverse relationship between litter size and offspring size (SVL and mass) was found. Comparison of the results with previous investigations of E. whitii indicates substantial geographic variation in life-history traits that is presumably associated with latitudinal variation in climatic conditions.