Temperature-induced shifts in selective pressure at a critical developmental transition

Gagliano, Monica, McCormick, Mark I., and Meekan, Mark G. (2007) Temperature-induced shifts in selective pressure at a critical developmental transition. Oecologia, 152 (2). pp. 219-225.

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Abstract

Selective mortality within a population, based on the phenotype of individuals, is the foundation of the theory of natural selection. We examined temperature-induced shifts in the relationships among early life history traits and survivorship over the embryonic and larval stages of a tropical damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. Our experiments show that temperature determines the intensity of selective mortality, and that this changes with ontogeny. The size of energy stores determined survival through to hatching, after which egg size became a good indicator of fitness as predicted by theoretical models. Yet, the benefits associated with egg size were not uniform among test temperatures. Initial egg size positively influenced larval survival at control temperature (29 °C). However, this embryonic trait had no effect on post-hatching longevity of individuals reared at the higher (31 °C) and lower (25 °C) end of the temperature range. Overall, our findings indicate that the outcome of selective mortality is strongly dependent on the interaction between environment conditions and intrinsic developmental schedules.

Item ID: 2895
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1432-1939
Keywords: coral reef fish; bigger is better hypothesis; early life history traits; egg size; selective mortality
Date Deposited: 22 Sep 2009 07:06
FoR Codes: 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060299 Ecology not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes: 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences @ 100%
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