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Van Cann J, Koskela E, Mappes T, Sims A, Watts PC. Intergenerational fitness effects of the early life environment in a wild rodent. J Anim Ecol 2019; 88:1355-1365. [PMID: 31162628 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The early life environment can have profound, long-lasting effects on an individual's fitness. For example, early life quality might (a) positively associate with fitness (a silver spoon effect), (b) stimulate a predictive adaptive response (by adjusting the phenotype to the quality of the environment to maximize fitness) or (c) be obscured by subsequent plasticity. Potentially, the effects of the early life environment can persist beyond one generation, though the intergenerational plasticity on fitness traits of a subsequent generation is unclear. To study both intra- and intergenerational effects of the early life environment, we exposed a first generation of bank voles to two early life stimuli (variation in food and social environment) in a controlled environment. To assess possible intra-generational effects, the reproductive success of female individuals was investigated by placing them in large outdoor enclosures in two different, ecologically relevant environments (population densities). Resulting offspring were raised in the same population densities where they were conceived and their growth was recorded. When adult, half of the offspring were transferred to opposite population densities to evaluate their winter survival, a crucial fitness trait for bank voles. Our setup allowed us to assess: (a) do early life population density cues elicit an intra-generational adaptive response, that is a higher reproductive success when the density matches the early life cues and (b) can early life stimuli of one generation elicit an intergenerational adaptive response in their offspring, that is a higher growth and winter survival when the density matches the early life cues of their mother. Our results show that the early life environment directly affects the phenotype and reproductive success of the focal generation, but adaptive responses are only evident in the offspring. Growth of the offspring is maintained only when the environment matches their mother's early life environment. Furthermore, winter survival of offspring also tended to be higher in high population densities if their mothers experienced an competitive early life. These results show that the early life environment can contribute to maintain high fitness in challenging environments, but not necessarily in the generation experiencing the early life cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joannes Van Cann
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Esa Koskela
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tapio Mappes
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Angela Sims
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Phillip C Watts
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.,Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Kelt DA, Heske EJ, Lambin X, Oli MK, Orrock JL, Ozgul A, Pauli JN, Prugh LR, Sollmann R, Sommer S. Advances in population ecology and species interactions in mammals. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
AbstractThe study of mammals has promoted the development and testing of many ideas in contemporary ecology. Here we address recent developments in foraging and habitat selection, source–sink dynamics, competition (both within and between species), population cycles, predation (including apparent competition), mutualism, and biological invasions. Because mammals are appealing to the public, ecological insight gleaned from the study of mammals has disproportionate potential in educating the public about ecological principles and their application to wise management. Mammals have been central to many computational and statistical developments in recent years, including refinements to traditional approaches and metrics (e.g., capture-recapture) as well as advancements of novel and developing fields (e.g., spatial capture-recapture, occupancy modeling, integrated population models). The study of mammals also poses challenges in terms of fully characterizing dynamics in natural conditions. Ongoing climate change threatens to affect global ecosystems, and mammals provide visible and charismatic subjects for research on local and regional effects of such change as well as predictive modeling of the long-term effects on ecosystem function and stability. Although much remains to be done, the population ecology of mammals continues to be a vibrant and rapidly developing field. We anticipate that the next quarter century will prove as exciting and productive for the study of mammals as has the recent one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas A Kelt
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Edward J Heske
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Xavier Lambin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | - Madan K Oli
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - John L Orrock
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Arpat Ozgul
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan N Pauli
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Laura R Prugh
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Rahel Sollmann
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Stefan Sommer
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Do phase-dependent life history traits in cyclic voles persist in a common environment? Oecologia 2019; 190:399-410. [PMID: 31065806 PMCID: PMC6571100 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04410-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Phenotype and life history traits of an individual are a product of environmental conditions and the genome. Environment can be current or past, which complicates the distinction between environmental and heritable effects on the phenotype in wild animals. We studied genome–environment interactions on phenotype and life history traits by transplanting bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from northern and southern populations, originating from low or high population cycle phases, to common garden conditions in large outdoor enclosures. The first experiment focused on the persistence of body traits in autumn-captured overwintering populations. The second experiment focused on population growth and body traits in spring-captured founder voles and F1 generation. This experiment lasted the breeding season and subsequent winter. We verified phase-dependent differences in body size at capture. In the common environment, adult voles kept their original body size differences both over winter and during the breeding season. In addition, the first generation born in the common environment kept the size distribution of their parent population. The increase phase population maintained a more rapid growth potential, while populations from the decline phase of the cycle grew slower. After winter, the F1 generation of the increasing northern population matured later than the F1 of the southern declining ones. Our results suggest a strong role of heredity or early life conditions, greater than that of current juvenile and adult environmental conditions. Environmental conditions experienced by the parents in their early life can have inter-generational effects that manifest in offspring performance.
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Fokkema RW, Ubels R, Tinbergen JM. Great tits trade off future competitive advantage for current reproduction. Behav Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arw097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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Noguera JC, Monaghan P, Metcalfe NB. Interactive effects of early and later nutritional conditions on the adult antioxidant defence system in zebra finches. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:2211-7. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.120956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2015] [Accepted: 05/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
In vertebrates, antioxidant defences comprise a mixture of endogenously produced components and exogenously obtained antioxidants that are derived mostly from the diet. It has been suggested that early life micronutritional conditions might influence the way in which the antioxidant defence system operates, which could enable individuals to adjust the activity of the endogenous and exogenous components in line with their expected intake of dietary antioxidants if the future environment resembles the past. We investigated this possibility by experimentally manipulating the micronutrient content of the diet during different periods of postnatal development in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Birds that had a low micronutrient diet during the growth phase initially had a lower total antioxidant capacity (TAC) than those reared under a high micronutrient diet, but then showed a compensatory response, so that by the end of the growth phase the TAC of the two groups was the same. Interestingly, we found an interactive effect of micronutrient intake early and late in development: only those birds that continued with the same dietary treatment (low or high) throughout development showed a significant increase in their TAC during the period of sexual maturation. A similar effect was also found in the level of enzymatic antioxidant defences (glutathione peroxidase; GPx). No significant effects were found in the level of oxidative damage in lipids (MDA). These findings demonstrate the importance of early and late developmental conditions in shaping multiple aspects of the antioxidant system. Furthermore, they suggest that young birds may adjust their antioxidant defences to enable them to ‘thrive’ on diets rich or poor in micronutrients later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- José C. Noguera
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Pat Monaghan
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Neil B. Metcalfe
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
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Helle H, Koskela E, Mappes T. Life in varying environments: experimental evidence for delayed effects of juvenile environment on adult life history. J Anim Ecol 2011; 81:573-82. [PMID: 22191455 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01937.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
1. The effects of environment experienced during early development on phenotype as an adult has started to gain vast amounts of interest in various taxa. Some evidence on long-term effects of juvenile environment is available, but replicated experimental studies in wild animals are still lacking. 2. Here we report the first replicated experiment in wild mammals which examines the long-term effects of juvenile and adult environments on individual fitness (reproduction, survival and health). The early development of bank vole (Myodes glareolus) individuals took place in either food-supplemented or un-supplemented outdoor enclosures. After the summer, adult individuals were reciprocally changed to either a similar or opposite resource environment to overwinter. 3. Adult environment had an overriding effect on reproductive success of females so that females overwintering in food-supplemented enclosures had a higher probability of breeding and advanced the initiation of breeding. However, the characteristics of their litters were determined by juvenile environment: females initially grown in food-supplemented conditions subsequently produced larger litters with bigger pups and a male-biased sex ratio. 4. In males, individuals growing in un-supplemented conditions had the highest survival irrespective of adult environment during winter, whereas in females, neither the juvenile nor adult environments affected their survival significantly. The physiological condition of voles in spring, as determined by haematological parameters, was also differentially affected by juvenile (plasma proteins and male testosterone) and adult (haematocrit) environments. 5. Our results suggest that (i) life-history trajectories of voles are not strictly specialized to a certain environment and (ii) the plastic life-history responses to present conditions can actually be caused by delayed effects of the juvenile environment. More generally, the results are important for understanding the mechanisms of delayed life-history effects as well as recognizing their population dynamic consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heikki Helle
- Centre of Excellence in Evolutionary Research, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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