Journal article
Diet quality and prey selectivity correlate with life histories and predation regime in Trinidadian guppies
Functional ecology, v 25(5), pp 964-973
01 Oct 2011
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
1. Life histories evolve as a response to multiple agents of selection, such as age-specific mortality, resource availability or environmental fluctuations. Predators can affect life-history evolution directly, by increasing the mortality of prey, and indirectly, by modifying prey density and resources available to the survivors. Increasing survivor densities can intensify intraspecific competition and cause evolutionary changes in their selectivity, also affecting nutrient acquisition.
2. Here, we show that different life-history traits in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are correlated with differences in resource consumption and prey selectivity. We examined differences in wild-caught guppy diet among stream types with high (HP) and low predation (LP) pressure and how they are related to benthic invertebrate biomass. Fish and invertebrate samples were collected from two HP and two LP reaches of two distinct study rivers in Trinidad.
3. Our results reveal a strong association between life history and diet. Guppies from HP environments mature earlier and have higher fecundity and reproductive allotment than those from LP environments. Prior work revealed that their population densities are lower and that they grow faster than their LP counterparts. Here, we show that these life-history differences are repeated and that HP guppies feed primarily on invertebrates. In contrast, guppies from LP sites feed primarily on detritus and algae, which are a poorer quality food. LP guppies fed on invertebrates according to their availability, while HP guppies were selective towards those invertebrates with the lower carbon/nitrogen body ratio and thus with higher nutritional value.
4. Our study suggests that as predators shape the life histories of their prey and alter prey population densities, they can also indirectly shape their prey's foraging and diet selectivity. This is, to our knowledge, the first report on how intraspecific differences in life-history traits are correlated with prey selectivity, where prey stoichiometry is included. Although there are clear limitations of association data, our study suggests that the patterns of resource use and life history evolve in concert with one another. However, further research is needed to investigate the possible causal links between risk of predation, the indirect effects of predators on guppy population density, the evolution of life-history traits and nutrient acquisition.
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Details
- Title
- Diet quality and prey selectivity correlate with life histories and predation regime in Trinidadian guppies
- Creators
- Eugenia Zandona - Drexel UniversitySonya K. Auer - University of California, RiversideSusan S. Kilham - Drexel UniversityJason L. Howard - Drexel UniversityAndres Lopez-Sepulcre - University of California, RiversideMichael P. O'Connor - Drexel UniversityRonald D. Bassar - University of California, RiversideArthela Osorio - University of California, RiversideCatherine M. Pringle - University of GeorgiaDavid N. Reznick - University of California, Riverside
- Publication Details
- Functional ecology, v 25(5), pp 964-973
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 10
- Grant note
- EF-0623632 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) Mozino scholarship
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000295132100004
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-80053131883
- Other Identifier
- 991019167547404721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Ecology