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145 results for “life history variation”
How specialized is a soil specialist? Early life history responses of a rare Eriogonum to site-level variation in volcanic soils
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Data from: Variation in life-history traits among Daphnia and its relationship to species-level responses to phosphorus limitation
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Life history and environment predict variation in testosterone across vertebrates
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Selection and plasticity both account for inter-annual variation in life-history phenology in an annual prairie legume
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Data from: Population and life-history consequences of within-cohort individual variation
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Data from: Variation in chronic radiation exposure does not drive life history divergence among Daphnia populations across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
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Data from: On the possible role of nonreproductive traits for the evolution of unisexuality: life‐history variation among males, females, and hermaphrodites in Opuntia robusta (Cactaceae)
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Data from: Population variation in the life history of a land fish, Alticus arnoldorum, and the effects of predation and density
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Data from: Habitat-driven life history variation in an amphibian metapopulation
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Data from: Environment-dependent variation in selection on life history across small spatial scales
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Data from: Variation in seasonal timing traits and life history along a latitudinal transect in Mimulus ringens
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Data from: Geographic variation of life-history traits in the sand lizard, Lacerta agilis: testing Darwin's fecundity-advantage hypothesis
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Data from: Functional traits explain variation in plant life history strategies
Ecologists seek general explanations for the dramatic variation in species abundances in space and time. An increasingly popular solution is to predict species distributions, dynamics and responses to environmental change based on easily measured anatomical and morphological traits. Trait-based approaches assume that simple functional traits influence fitness and life history evolution, but rigorous tests of this assumption are lacking because they require quantitative information about the full life-cycles of many species representing different life histories. Here we link a global traits database with empirical matrix population models for 222 species and report strong relationships between functional traits and plant life histories. Species with large seeds, long-lived leaves, or dense wood have slow life histories, with mean fitness (i.e. population growth rates) more strongly influenced by survival than by growth or fecundity, compared to fast life history species with small seeds, short-lived leaves, or soft wood. In contrast to measures of demographic contributions to fitness based on whole life-cycles, analyses focused on raw demographic rates may underestimate the strength of association between traits and mean fitness. Our results help establish the physiological basis for plant life history evolution and show the potential for trait-based approaches in population dynamics.
Data from: Life-history trade-offs mediate 'personality' variation in two colour morphs of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum
(1) Life-history trade-offs are considered a major driving force in the emergence of consistent behavioural differences (personality variation); but empirical tests are scarce. (2) We investigated links between a personality trait (escape response), life-history and state variables (growth rate, size and age at first reproduction, age-dependent reproductive rates, lifetime reproductive success, lifespan) in red and green colour morphs of clonal pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Escape response (dropping/non-dropping off a plant upon a predatory attack) was measured repeatedly to classify individuals as consistent droppers, consistent non-droppers or inconsistents. (3) Red morphs experienced stronger trade-offs between early reproduction and lifespan than green morphs; and red consistent (non-)droppers had highest lifetime reproductive success. Red droppers followed a risk-averse life-history strategy (high late reproduction), red non-droppers a risk-prone strategy (high early reproduction), while reproductive rates were equivalent for all green behavioural types and red inconsistents. (4) This suggests that red morphs suffer the highest costs of dropping (they are most conspicuous to predators), which 'equivalates' fitness payoffs to both risk-takers (red non-droppers) and risk-averse red droppers. The strong trade-off also means that committing to a particular lifestyle (being consistent) maximises fitness. (5) Our study suggests that life-history trade-offs likely mediate personality variation but effects might depend on interactions with other organismal characteristics (here: colour morph).
Data from: Effects of variation in resource acquisition during different stages of the life cycle on life-history traits and trade-offs in a burying beetle
Individual variation in resource acquisition should have consequences for life-history traits and trade-offs between them because such variation determines how many resources can be allocated to different life-history functions, such as growth, survival and reproduction. Since resource acquisition can vary across an individual's life cycle, the consequences for life-history traits and trade-offs may depend on when during the life cycle resources are limited. We tested for differential and/or interactive effects of variation in resource acquisition in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We designed an experiment in which individuals acquired high or low amounts of resources across three stages of the life cycle: larval development, prior to breeding and the onset of breeding in a fully crossed design. Resource acquisition during larval development and prior to breeding affected egg size and offspring survival, respectively. Meanwhile, resource acquisition at the onset of breeding affected size and number of both eggs and offspring. In addition, there were interactive effects between resource acquisition at different stages on egg size and offspring survival. However, only when females acquired few resources at the onset of breeding was there evidence for a trade-off between offspring size and number. Our results demonstrate that individual variation in resource acquisition during different stages of the life cycle has important consequences for life-history traits but limited effects on trade-offs. This suggests that, in species that acquire a fixed-sized resource at the onset of breeding, the size of this resource has larger effects on life-history trade-offs than resources acquired at earlier stages.
Data from: Correlations of life-history and distributional-range variation with salamander diversification rates: evidence for species selection
Evolutionary biologists have long debated the relative influence of species selection on evolutionary patterns. As a test, we apply a statistical phylogenetic approach to evaluate the influence of traits related to species distribution and life-history characteristics on patterns of diversification in salamanders. We use independent contrasts to test trait-mediated diversification while accommodating phylogenetic uncertainty in relationships among all salamander families. Using a neontological data set, we find several species-level traits to be variable, heritable, and associated with differential success (i.e., higher diversification rates) at higher taxonomic categories. Specifically, the macroecological trait of small geographic-range size is strongly correlated with a higher rate of net diversification. We further consider the role that plasticity in life-history traits appears to fulfill in macroevolutionary processes of lineage divergence and durability. We find that pedotypy—wherein some, but not all, organisms of a species mature in the gilled form without metamorphosing—is also associated with higher net diversification rate than is the absence of developmental plasticity. Often dismissed as an insignificant process in evolution, we provide direct evidence for the role of species selection in lineage diversification of salamanders.
Data from: Multidimensional environmental predictors of variation in avian forest and city life histories
Optimal life-history decisions are shaped by prevailing environmental conditions. In the context of urbanization, environmental differences between urban and rural areas are known to vary across a multitude of axes. The relative roles of specific axes and whether they explain variation in avian life histories between forest and city populations have not often been studied empirically. This study comprehensively views urbanization from a multidimensional environmental perspective. For each of 13 nest box plots of a common passerine bird (the great tit Parus major), we quantified temperature, humidity, light, and noise, and subsequently assessed direct versus indirect effects of each environmental axis on components of annual reproductive success by applying a path analytical framework. All quantified environmental axes, and life-history traits, showed substantial repeatable variation between the plots. Forest and city plots differed tremendously in temperature, humidity, and light. We were able to attribute among-population variation in life history to variation in these environmental effects. However, the simple dichotomy between forest and city populations explained the data best. Birds in the city laid earlier, which indirectly resulted in smaller clutches, and their offspring fledged in poorer condition, compared to conspecifics in forests. Those differences persisted after controlling for temperature, humidity, light, and noise, which implies that they were shaped by other factors than the ones quantified in this study. In summary, our findings question the common interpretation that differences between forest and city areas relate to specific environmental axes that covary with urbanization, especially in in lieu of quantitative measurements.
Data from: Testing the role of ecology and life history in structuring genetic variation across a landscape: a trait-based phylogeographic approach
Hypotheses to explain phylogeographic structure traditionally invoke geographic features, but often fail to provide a general explanation for spatial patterns of genetic variation. Organisms' intrinsic characteristics might play more important roles than landscape features in determining phylogeographic structure. We developed a novel comparative approach to explore the role of ecological and life-history variables in determining spatial genetic variation and tested it on frog communities in Panama. We quantified spatial genetic variation within 31 anuran species based on mitochondrial DNA sequences, for which hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation analyses rejected simultaneous divergence over a common landscape. Regressing ecological variables, on genetic divergence allowed us to test the importance of individual variables revealing that body size, current landscape resistance, geographic range, biogeographic origin and reproductive mode were significant predictors of spatial genetic variation. Our results support the idea that phylogeographic structure represents the outcome of an interaction between organisms and their environment, and suggest a conceptual integration we refer to as trait-based phylogeography.
Data from: One stimulus - two responses: host and parasite life history variation in response to environmental stress
Climate change stressors will place different selective pressures on both parasites and their hosts, forcing individuals to modify their life history strategies and altering the distribution and prevalence of disease. Few studies have investigated whether parasites are able to respond to host stress and respond by varying their reproductive schedules. Additionally, multiple environmental stressors can limit the ability of a host to respond adaptively to parasite infection. This study compared both host and parasite life history parameters in unstressed and drought-stressed environments using the human parasite, Schistosoma mansoni in its freshwater snail intermediate host. Snail hosts infected with the parasite demonstrated a significant reproductive burst during the pre-patent period (fecundity compensation), but that response was absent in a drought-stressed environment. This is the first report of the elimination of host fecundity compensation to parasitism when exposed to additional environmental stress. More surprisingly, we found that infections in drought-stressed snails had significantly higher parasite reproductive outputs than infections in unstressed snails. The finding suggests that climate change may alter the infection dynamics of this human parasite.
Data from: Genomic variation underlying complex life history traits revealed by genome sequencing in Chinook salmon
A broad portfolio of phenotypic diversity in natural organisms can buffer against exploitation and increase species persistence in disturbed ecosystems. The study of genomic variation that accounts for ecological and evolutionary adaptation can represent a powerful approach to extend understanding of phenotypic variation in nature. Here we present a chromosome-level reference genome assembly for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; 2.36 Gb) that enabled association mapping of life history variation and phenotypic traits for this species. Whole genome resequencing of populations with distinct life history traits provided evidence that divergent selection was extensive throughout the genome within and among phylogenetic lineages, indicating a broad portfolio of phenotypic diversity exists in this species that is related to local adaptation and life history variation. Association mapping with millions of genome-wide SNPs revealed that a genomic region of major effect on chromosome 28 was associated with phenotypes for premature and mature arrival to spawning grounds and was consistent across three distinct phylogenetic lineages. Our results demonstrate how genomic resources can enlighten the genetic basis of known phenotypes in exploited species and assist in clarifying phenotypic variation that may be difficult to observe in naturally occurring organisms.
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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.