scholarly journals Environmental variability and longevity predict the speed of the acute glucocorticoid response across birds.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor C Taff ◽  
John C Wingfield ◽  
Maren N Vitousek
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Relative Speed ◽  
Absolute Increase ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Glucocorticoid Response ◽  
Rapid Changes

The acute glucocorticoid response is a key mediator of the coordinated vertebrate response to unpredictable challenges. Rapid increases in glucocorticoids initiate a series of changes that can allow animals to effectively cope with or avoid stressors. It has become clear that the scope of the GC response-defined here as the absolute increase in GCs-is often associated with among-individual differences in performance and fitness and varies across species based on environment and life history. In addition to varying in scope, GC responses can differ enormously in speed; however, relatively little is known about whether speed and scope covary or how selection shapes variation in speed. We used a database of corticosterone samples collected at 5 time points from 1,750 individuals of 58 species of birds to ask i) how the speed and scope of the GC response covary among individuals and species and ii) whether variation among species in the speed of the response is predicted by environmental context or key life history traits. As predicted by a recent optimality model, faster absolute GC responses were strongly associated with a larger scope both among-individuals and among-species. Despite this covariation, the relative speed of the GC response (as a percentage of scope) varied independently of scope, suggesting that selection could operate on both features of the response independently. Species with faster relative GC responses lived in locations with more intra-season variation in temperature and had shorter lifespans. Our results suggest that rapid changes associated with the speed of the GC response, such as those occurring through non-genomic receptors, might be an important determinant of coping ability and we emphasize the need for studies explicitly designed to measure speed independently of scope.

Variability of breeding resource partitioning in a lacertid lizard at field scale

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-92
Author(s):  
Marta Biaggini ◽  
Claudia Corti
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Intensively Managed ◽  
The Impact

Human activities cause increasingly deep alterations to natural environments. Yet, the effects on vertebrates with low dispersal capacity are still poorly investigated, especially at field scale. Life history variation represents one means by which species can adapt to a changing environment. Among vertebrates, lizards exhibit a high degree of variation in life-history traits, often associated with environmental variability. We examined the female breeding output ofPodarcissiculus(Lacertidae) inside agricultural habitats, to test whether different cultivation and management influence the life-history traits of this species. Interestingly, we recorded variability of female breeding output at a very fine scale, namely among adjacent vineyards and olive orchards under different management levels. Lizards displayed the lowest breeding effort in the almost unmanaged sites, while clutch mass, relative fecundity and mean egg mass slightly increased in more intensively managed sites. However, in the most intensive cultivations we detected a life-history trade-off, where eggs from larger clutches tended to be relatively smaller than eggs from smaller clutches. This pattern suggests that agriculture can influence lizard reproductive output, partly favouring it in the presence of medium intensity cultivation but causing, in the most intensively managed sites, some environmental constraints that require a peculiar partitioning of the breeding resources. Even though further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms driving the observed pattern, our results can be considered a starting point for evaluating the analysis of lizard breeding features as a tool to assess the impact of human activities, at least in agricultural environments.

scholarly journals Capture technique and fish personality: angling targets timid bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 749-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander D.M. Wilson ◽  
Thomas R. Binder ◽  
Keegan P. McGrath ◽  
Steven J. Cooke ◽  
Jean-Guy J. Godin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Wild Fish ◽  
Bluegill Sunfish ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Capture Technique

Size-selective harvesting associated with commercial and recreational fishing practices has been shown to alter life history traits through a phenomenon known as fishing-induced evolution. This phenomenon may be a result of selection pathways targeting life-history traits directly or indirectly through correlations with behavioral traits. Here, we report on the relationship between individual differences in behavior and capture technique (beach seining versus angling) in wild-caught juvenile bluegill sunfish ( Lepomis macrochirus ). Both fish caught by using a seine net (seined) and fish caught by using a lure (angled) were individually tested under standardized laboratory conditions for their boldness, water-column use, and general activity. Observed inter-individual differences in boldness were strongly correlated with method of capture in the wild. Fish caught by angling were more timid and had fewer ectoparasites than fish caught using a seine net. However, this relationship did not carry over to an experiment in a large outdoor pool with seine-caught, individually tagged wild fish, where bolder individuals were more likely to be angled in open water away from refuges than more timid individuals, based on their previously assessed boldness scores. Our study is both novel and important, as it describes the relationship between capture technique and boldness in a natural population and underscores the potential risk of sampling biases associated with method of animal capture for behavioral, population, and conservation biologists.

scholarly journals Cause or consequence? Exploring the role of phenotypic plasticity and genetic polymorphism in the emergence of phenotypic spatial patterns of the European eel

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 987-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mateo ◽  
Patrick Lambert ◽  
Stéphane Tetard ◽  
Martin Castonguay ◽  
Bruno Ernande ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Anguilla Anguilla ◽  
European Eel ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
The Impact

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla), and generally, temperate eels, are relevant species for studying adaptive mechanisms to environmental variability because of their large distribution areas and their limited capacity of local adaptation. In this context, GenEveel, an individual-based optimization model, was developed to explore the role of adaptive phenotypic plasticity and genetic-dependent habitat selection, in the emergence of observed spatial life-history traits patterns for eels. Results suggest that an interaction of genetically and environmentally controlled growth may be the basis for genotype-dependent habitat selection, whereas plasticity plays a role in changes in life-history traits and demographic attributes. Therefore, this suggests that those mechanisms are responses to address environmental heterogeneity. Moreover, this brings new elements to explain the different life strategies of males and females. A sensitivity analysis showed that the parameters associated with the optimization of fitness and growth genotype were crucial in reproducing the spatial life-history patterns. Finally, it raises the question of the impact of anthropogenic pressures that can cause direct mortalities but also modify demographic traits and act as a selection pressure.

scholarly journals Life-history attributes of Arctic-breeding birds drive uneven responses to environmental variability across different phases of the reproductive cycle

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ruthrauff ◽  
Vijay Patil ◽  
Jerry W. Hupp ◽  
David Ward
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Timing Of Breeding ◽  
Chick Growth ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

1. Animals exhibit varied life-history traits that reflect adaptive responses to their environments. For Arctic-breeding birds, traits like foraging guild, egg nutrient allocation, clutch size, and chick growth are predicted to be under increasing selection pressure due to rapid climate change and increasing environmental variability across high-latitude regions. 2. We compared four migratory birds (black brant [Branta bernicla nigricans], lesser snow geese [Chen caerulescens caerulescens], semipalmated sandpipers [Calidris pusilla], and Lapland longspurs [Calcarius lapponicus]) with varied life histories at an Arctic site in Alaska, USA, to understand how life-history traits help moderate environmental variability across different phases of the reproductive cycle. 3. We monitored aspects of reproductive performance related to the timing of breeding, reproductive investment, and chick growth from 2011–2018. 4. In response to early snow melt and warm temperatures, semipalmated sandpipers advanced their site arrival and bred in higher numbers, while brant and snow geese increased clutch sizes; all four species advanced their nest initiation dates. During chick rearing, longspur chicks were relatively resilient to environmental variation whereas warmer temperatures increased the growth rates of sandpiper chicks but reduced growth rates of snow goose goslings. These responses generally aligned with traits along the capital-income spectrum of nutrient acquisition and altricial-precocial modes of chick growth. Under a warming climate, the ability to mobilize endogenous reserves likely provides geese with relative flexibility to adjust the timing of breeding and the size of clutches. Warmer temperatures, however, may negatively affect the quality of herbaceous foods and slow gosling growth. 5. Species may possess traits that are beneficial during one phase of the reproductive cycle and others that may be detrimental at another phase, uneven responses that may be amplified with future climate warming. These results underscore the need to consider multiple phases of the reproductive cycle when assessing the effects of environmental variability on Arctic-breeding birds.

scholarly journals Unusually Paced Life History Strategies of Marine Megafauna Drive Atypical Sensitivities to Environmental Variability

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Marta Flotats Avilés ◽  
Kim Eustache
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Juvenile Mortality ◽  
Population Responses ◽  
Marine Megafauna

Understanding why different life history strategies respond differently to changes in environmental variability is necessary to be able to predict eco-evolutionary population responses to change. Marine megafauna display unusual combinations of life history traits. For example, rays, sharks and turtles are all long-lived, characteristic of slow life histories. However, turtles also have very high reproduction rates and juvenile mortality, characteristic of fast life histories. Sharks and rays, in contrast, produce a few live-born young, which have low mortality rates, characteristic of slow life histories. This raises the question if marine megafaunal responses to environmental variability follow conventional life history patterns, including the pattern that fast life histories are more sensitive to environmental autocorrelation than slow life histories. To answer this question, we used a functional trait approach to quantify for different species of mobulid rays, cheloniid sea turtles and carcharhinid sharks – all inhabitants or visitors of (human-dominated) coastalscapes – how their life history, average size and log stochastic population growth rate, log(λs), respond to changes in environmental autocorrelation and in the frequency of favorable environmental conditions. The faster life histories were more sensitive to temporal frequency of favourable environmental conditions, but both faster and slower life histories were equally sensitive, although of opposite sign, to environmental autocorrelation. These patterns are atypical, likely following from the unusual life history traits that the megafauna display, as responses were linked to variation in mortality, growth and reproduction rates. Our findings signify the importance of understanding how life history traits and population responses to environmental change are linked. Such understanding is a basis for accurate predictions of marine megafauna population responses to environmental perturbations like (over)fishing, and to shifts in the autocorrelation of environmental variables, ultimately contributing toward bending the curve on marine biodiversity loss.

scholarly journals Impact of environmental variability on Pinctada margaritifera life-history traits: A full life cycle deb modeling approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 423 ◽  
pp. 109006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathanaël Sangare ◽  
Alain Lo-Yat ◽  
Gilles Le Moullac ◽  
Laure Pecquerie ◽  
Yoann Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Pinctada Margaritifera ◽  
Modeling Approach ◽  
Full Life Cycle ◽  
Full Life

Prey tell: what quillback rockfish early life history traits reveal about their survival in encounters with juvenile coho salmon

2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
HW Fennie ◽  
S Sponaugle ◽  
EA Daly ◽  
RD Brodeur
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Otolith Microstructure Analysis ◽  
Pelagic Juvenile

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.

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