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2,291 results for “life history”
Grow fast but don’t die young: maternal effects mediate life-history tradeoffs of lizards under climate warming
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On the genetic architecture of rapidly adapting and convergent life history traits in guppies
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Data from: Asynchronous life histories generate uneven arms races and impact the maintenance of mutualisms
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Data from: Weedy and seedy: The rapid evolution of life-history characteristics in an introduced daisy
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Linking spatial variations in life-history traits to environmental conditions across American black bear populations
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The evolutionary loss of paternal care is associated with shifts in female life history traits
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Mitochondrial plasticity and life history in field crickets
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Black rockfish otolith and early life history data
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Data from: Predator life history and prey ontogeny limit natural selection on the major armour gene, Eda, in threespine stickleback
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Environmental, molecular, and life history data associated with ecological and evolutionary nematode responses to soil phosphorus availability, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Elemental stoichiometry is a useful theoretical framework for understanding the sources and controls on nutrient availability that can structure the composition, diversity, and life history of biotic communities. One such relationship, as postulated by the growth rate hypothesis (GRH), is that organismal development rate is positively linked to cellular phosphorus (P). To test the GRH as part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, we examined the effects of phosphorus (P) availability both in situ and in vitro, on the evolution of growth and development of free-living soil nematodes (primarily Plectus murrayi) that occur in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. During the 2008-2009 austral summer, we collected soils from two glacial till sequences, the Ross Sea till and Taylor II till, occurring in the Lake Fryxell and Lake Bonney basins, respectively, of Taylor Valley. Through a variety of subsequent analyses, we generated the environmental, molecular, and life history trait data contained herein. In addition, this package contains body size and biomass data for nematodes isolated from soil samples collected during the 1999-2000 and 2004-2005 austral summers.
SBC LTER: Sargassum horneri life history in southern California
These data describe the results of surveys and experiments performed to characterize the life history of the invasive seaweed Sargassum horneri and quantify traits that promote its spread and persistence, including seasonality in abundance and reproduction, habitat affinity, and capacity for local dispersal. This data package includes five data tables and they are used to support a manuscript: Marks LM, Reed DC, Holbrook SJ (2018) Life history traits of the invasive seaweed Sargassum horneri at Santa Catalina Island, California. Aquatic Invasions 13 (3): 339–350. doi: https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2018.13.3.03
Physiological maturity at a critical life‐history transition and flight ability at fledging
Developmental maturity (e.g. body condition, body mass) at major life-history transitions is known to affect fitness across a wide range of taxa. Fledging (leaving the nest), a major life-history transition in birds, is associated with high post-fledging mortality and is widely assumed to be related to poor initial flight ability of fledglings, which, in turn, might be related to developmental maturity at fledging. We investigated individual variation in developmental maturity of both somatic and physiological traits at this critical life-history transition in different ecological contexts (year, first or second broods) to determine the importance of physiological traits related to oxygen-carrying capacity (haematocrit, haemoglobin) for individual variation in initial flight ability at fledging. Haemoglobin concentration and haematocrit at fledging had much higher variance than somatic traits and were more variable across ecological contexts. Furthermore, fledgling haemoglobin concentration was the least developmentally mature of all traits (on average, only 78% of adult concentration). Fledglings from second broods, which are known to have lower post-fledging survival, were less developmentally mature than fledglings from first broods for all traits (except tarsus), with haematocrit and haemoglobin concentration being the most developmentally immature traits (in first vs. second broods, haematocrit: 47·1% vs. 40·9%; haemoglobin: 13·3 vs. 11·6 g dL−1). Models predicting individual variation in two aspects of initial flight ability (total energy gain, take-off angle) were significantly improved when physiological traits (in particular haemoglobin) were incorporated into models based on somatic traits.
Data from: Longevity, body dimension and reproductive mode drive differences in aquatic versus terrestrial life history strategies
<p>1. Aquatic and terrestrial environments display stark differences in key environmental factors and phylogenetic composition but their consequences for the evolution of species' life history strategies remain poorly understood.</p> <p>2. Here, we examine whether and how life history strategies vary between terrestrial and aquatic species. We use demographic information for 685 terrestrial and 122 aquatic animal and plant species to estimate key life history traits. We then use phylogenetically corrected least squares regression to explore potential differences in trade-offs between life history traits between both environments. We contrast life history strategies of aquatic vs. terrestrial species in a principal component analysis while accounting for body dimensions and phylogenetic relationships.</p> <p>3. Our results show that the same trade-offs structure terrestrial and aquatic life histories, resulting in two dominant axes of variation that describe species' pace-of-life and reproductive strategies. Terrestrial plants display a large diversity of strategies, including the longest-lived species in this study. Aquatic animals exhibit higher reproductive frequency than terrestrial animals. When correcting for body size, mobile and sessile terrestrial organisms show slower paces of life than aquatic ones.</p> <p>4. Aquatic and terrestrial species are ruled by the same life history trade-offs, but have evolved different strategies, likely due to distinct environmental selective pressures. Such contrasting life history strategies have important consequences for the conservation and management of aquatic and terrestrial species.</p>
Data from: Live fast, die old: oxidative stress as a potential mediator of an unexpected life-history evolution
Intraspecific latitudinal patterns in life history are well documented, yet underlying mechanisms of such patterns are poorly understood. To advance our insights in the evolution of latitudinal differences in two key traits, growth rate and lifespan, we evaluated the potential costs of rapid growth in terms of reduced adult lifespan, and the mediatory role of oxidative stress. We studied latitudinal differentiation in routine and experimentally increased (compensatory) larval growth rates, and in adult lifespan under common garden conditions in low- and high-latitude populations of the damselfly <i>Ischnura elegans</i>. The low-latitude populations showed not only higher routine growth rates but also a stronger compensatory growth response after a transient food shortage compared to the high-latitude populations. In contrast with a trade-off scenario, adults of the faster growing low-latitude populations lived longer, had higher levels of antioxidant enzymes, and tended to experience lower oxidative damage. Importantly, these latitudinal patterns were largely mirrored at the treatment level, where experimentally induced compensatory growth rates were associated with neither oxidative damage nor shorter adult lifespans. Moreover, individuals with a higher growth rate after the transient food shortage did not have shorter adult lifespans or higher oxidative damage, but instead showed a stronger antioxidant defense. Our data indicate that an overcompensatory, hormetic response in antioxidant defense, potentially induced by the higher routine growth rates, resulting in less oxidative damage may underlie these unexpected growth-lifespan patterns. Our results highlight the added value of incorporating oxidative stress physiology, and the need to consider multivariate trade-offs in which animals optimize multiple traits, when studying life-history evolution.
Personality driven life-history trade-offs differ in two sub-populations of free ranging predators
<p>1) Consistent individual differences in behaviour (i.e. personality) can be explained in an evolutionary context if they are favoured by life-history trade-offs as conceptualized in the pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis. Theory predicts that faster growing individuals suffer higher mortality and that this trade-off is mediated through exploration/risk-taking personality, but empirical support for this remains limited and ambiguous. Equivocal support to the POLS hypothesis suggests that the link between life-history and personality may only emerge under certain circumstances. Understanding personality driven trade-offs would be facilitated by long-term studies in wild populations experiencing different ecological conditions.</p> <p>2) Here, we tested whether personality measured in semi-captivity was associated with a growth-mortality trade-off via risk-taking in the wild in two sub-populations of juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) known to differ in their predator abundance. We expected stronger personality driven trade-offs in the predator-rich environment as compared to the predator-poor environment.</p> <p>3) Sharks were captured yearly from 1995 onwards allowing us to obtain long-term data on growth and apparent survival in each sub-population. We then used a novel open-field assay to test sharks for exploration personality yearly from 2012 to 2017. A subset of the tested sharks was monitored in the field using telemetry to document risk-taking behaviours. We tested (i) if fast explorers in captivity took more risks and grew faster in the wild and (ii) if natural selection acted against more explorative, faster growing sharks.</p> <p>4) In the sub-population with fewer predators, more explorative sharks in captivity took more risks in the wild and grew faster. In turn, larger, fast-growing sharks had lower apparent survival. In the predator-rich sub-population, despite finding selection on fast growth, we found no link between exploration personality and the growth-mortality trade-off.</p> <p>5) Our study demonstrates that the association between personality and life-history is favoured in some ecological contexts but not in others. We identify predator and resource abundance as two main potential drivers of the personality mediated trade-off and emphasize that future work on the POLS hypothesis would benefit from an approach integrating behaviour and life-history across ecological conditions.</p>
Data from: A rapidly evolved shift in life history timing during ecological speciation is driven by the transition between developmental phases
<p>For insect species in temperate environments, seasonal timing is often governed by the regulation of diapause, a complex developmental program that allows insects to weather unfavorable conditions and synchronize their lifecycles with available resources. Diapause development consists of a series of distinct phases including initiation, maintenance, termination, and post-diapause development. The evolution of insect seasonal timing depends in part on how these phases of diapause development and post-diapause development interact to affect variation in phenology. Here, we dissect the physiological basis of a recently evolved phenological shift in Rhagoletis pomonella (Diptera: Tephritidae), a model system for ecological divergence. A recently derived population of R. pomonella shifted from specializing on native hawthorn fruit to earlier fruiting introduced apples, resulting in a 3-4 week shift in adult emergence timing. We tracked metabolic rates of individual flies across post-winter development to test which phases of development may act either independently or in combination to contribute to this recently evolved divergence in timing. Apple and hawthorn flies differed in a number of facets of their post-winter developmental trajectories. However, divergent adaptation in adult emergence phenology in these flies was due almost entirely to the end of the pupal diapause maintenance phase, with post-diapause development having a very small effect. The relatively simple underpinnings of variation in adult emergence phenology suggest that further adaptation to seasonal change in these flies for this trait might be largely due to the timing of diapause termination unhindered by strong covariance among different components of post-diapause development.</p>
Data from: 200 million years of anuran body size evolution in relation to geography, ecology, and life history
Surprisingly little is known about body-size evolution within the most diverse amphibian order, anurans (frogs and toads), despite known effects of body size on the physiological, ecological, and life-history traits of animals more generally. Here we examined anuran body-size evolution among 2434 species with over 200 million years of shared evolutionary history. We found clade-specific evolutionary shifts to new body-size optima along with numerous independent transitions to gigantic and miniature body sizes, despite the upper limits of anuran body size remaining quite consistent throughout the fossil record. We found a weak, positive correlation between a species' body size and maximum latitude and elevation, including a dearth of small species at higher elevations and broader latitudinal and elevational ranges in larger anurans. Although we found modest differences in mean anuran body size among microhabitats, there was extensive overlap in the range of body sizes across microhabitats. Finally, we found that larger anurans are more likely to consume vertebrate prey than smaller anurans are, and that species with a free-swimming larval phase during development are larger on average than those in which development into a froglet occurs within the egg. Overall, anuran body size does not conform to geographic and ecological patterns observed in other tetrapods but is perhaps more notable for variation in body size within geographic regions, ecologies, and life-histories. Here we document this variation and propose target clades for detailed studies aimed at disentangling how and why variation in body size was generated and is maintained in anurans.
Life history data for longer-lived tropical songbirds reduce breeding activity as they buffer impacts of drought
<p><span>Droughts are expected to increase in frequency and severity with climate change. Population impacts of such harsh environmental events are theorized to vary with life history strategies among species. However, existing demographic models generally do not consider behavioral plasticity that may modify the impact of harsh events. Here we show that tropical songbirds in the New and Old World reduced reproduction during drought, with greater reductions in species with higher average long-term survival. Large reductions in reproduction by longer-lived species were associated with higher survival during drought than pre-drought years in Malaysia, whereas shorter-lived species maintained reproduction and survival decreased. Behavioral strategies of longer-lived, but not shorter-lived, species mitigated the effect of increasing drought frequency on long-term population growth. Behavioral plasticity can buffer the impact of climate change on populations of some species, and differences in plasticity among species related to their life histories are critical for predicting population trajectories.</span></p>
Prolonged maternal investment in northern bottlenose whales alters our understanding of beaked whale reproductive life history
<div>Nursing and weaning periods are poorly understood in cetaceans due to the difficulty of assessing underwater behaviour in the wild. However, the onset and completion of weaning are critical turning points for individual development and survival, with implications for a species life history including reproductive potential. δ15N and δ13C deposited in odontocete teeth annuli provide a lifetime record of diet, offering an opportunity to investigate variation and trends in fundamental biology. While available reproductive parameters for beaked whales have largely been inferred from single records of stranded or hunted animals and extrapolated across species, here we examine the weaning strategy and duration of nursing in northern bottlenose whales (<i>Hyperoodon ampullatus</i>) by measuring stable isotopes deposited in teeth growth layer groups (GLGs). Using a collection of <i>H. ampullatus </i>teeth taken from whales killed during the whaling era (N = 48) and from two stranded specimens, we compared ontogenetic variation of δ15N and δ13C found in annual GLGs across all individuals, by sex and by region. We detected age-based trends in both δ15N and δ13C that are consistent across regions and males and females, and indicate that nursing is prolonged and weaning does not conclude until whales are 3-4 years old, substantially later than previous estimates of 1 year. Incorporating a prolonged period of maternal care into <i>H. ampullatus</i> life history significantly reduces their reproductive potential, with broad implications for models of beaked whale life history, energetics and the species' recovery from whaling.</div>
Data from: Testing adaptive hypotheses on the evolution of larval life history in acorn and stalked barnacles
Despite strong selective pressure to optimize larval life history in marine environments, there is a wide diversity with regard to developmental mode, size and time larvae spend in the plankton. In the present study, we assessed if adaptive hypotheses explain the distribution of the larval life history of thoracican barnacles within a strict phylogenetic framework. We collected environmental and larval trait data for 170 species from the literature, and utilized a complete thoracican synthesis tree to account for phylogenetic non-independence. In accordance with Thorson's rule, the fraction of species with planktonic-feeding larvae declined with water depth and increased with water temperature, while the fraction of brooding species exhibited the reverse pattern. Species with planktonic-nonfeeding larvae were overall rare, following no apparent trend. In agreement with the "size advantage" hypothesis proposed by Strathmann in 1977, egg and larval size were closely correlated. Settlement-competent cypris larvae were larger in cold water, indicative of advantages for large juveniles when growth is slowed. Planktonic larval duration, on the other hand, was uncorrelated to environmental variables. We conclude that different selective pressures appear to shape the evolution of larval life history in barnacles.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.