Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles

Abstract Age and size at maturity are key life‐history components, yet the proximate underpinnings that mediate intra‐ and interspecific variation in life history remain poorly understood. We studied the proximate underpinnings of species differences and nutritionally plastic variation in adult size...

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Autores principales:	Patrick T. Rohner, Armin P. Moczek
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wiley 2021
Materias:	gut retention time life history nutritional plasticity Onthophagus Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/959cc0cacebb4ebe9b9928ca46e8dec0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:959cc0cacebb4ebe9b9928ca46e8dec02021-11-08T17:10:41ZEvolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles2045-775810.1002/ece3.8192https://doaj.org/article/959cc0cacebb4ebe9b9928ca46e8dec02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8192https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758Abstract Age and size at maturity are key life‐history components, yet the proximate underpinnings that mediate intra‐ and interspecific variation in life history remain poorly understood. We studied the proximate underpinnings of species differences and nutritionally plastic variation in adult size and development time in four species of dung beetles. Specifically, we investigated how variation in insect growth mediates adult size variation, tested whether fast juvenile growth trades‐off with developmental stability in adult morphology and quantified plastic responses of digestive systems to variation in food quality. Contrary to the common size–development time trade‐off, the largest species exhibited by far the shortest development time. Correspondingly, species diverged strongly in the shape of growth trajectories. Nutritionally plastic adjustments to growth were qualitatively similar between species but differed in magnitude. Although we expected rapid growth to induce developmental costs, neither instantaneous growth rates nor the duration of larval growth were related to developmental stability in the adult. This renders the putative costs of rapid growth enigmatic. We further found that larvae that encounter a challenging diet develop a larger midgut and digest more slowly than animals reared on a more nutritious diet. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that larvae invest into a more effective digestive system when exposed to low‐quality nutrition, but suggest that species may diverge readily in their reliance on these mechanisms. More generally, our data highlight the complex, and often hidden, relationships between immature growth and age and size at maturation even in ecologically similar species.Patrick T. RohnerArmin P. MoczekWileyarticlegut retention timelife historynutritional plasticityOnthophagusEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 21, Pp 15098-15110 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	gut retention time life history nutritional plasticity Onthophagus Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	gut retention time life history nutritional plasticity Onthophagus Ecology QH540-549.5 Patrick T. Rohner Armin P. Moczek Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
description	Abstract Age and size at maturity are key life‐history components, yet the proximate underpinnings that mediate intra‐ and interspecific variation in life history remain poorly understood. We studied the proximate underpinnings of species differences and nutritionally plastic variation in adult size and development time in four species of dung beetles. Specifically, we investigated how variation in insect growth mediates adult size variation, tested whether fast juvenile growth trades‐off with developmental stability in adult morphology and quantified plastic responses of digestive systems to variation in food quality. Contrary to the common size–development time trade‐off, the largest species exhibited by far the shortest development time. Correspondingly, species diverged strongly in the shape of growth trajectories. Nutritionally plastic adjustments to growth were qualitatively similar between species but differed in magnitude. Although we expected rapid growth to induce developmental costs, neither instantaneous growth rates nor the duration of larval growth were related to developmental stability in the adult. This renders the putative costs of rapid growth enigmatic. We further found that larvae that encounter a challenging diet develop a larger midgut and digest more slowly than animals reared on a more nutritious diet. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that larvae invest into a more effective digestive system when exposed to low‐quality nutrition, but suggest that species may diverge readily in their reliance on these mechanisms. More generally, our data highlight the complex, and often hidden, relationships between immature growth and age and size at maturation even in ecologically similar species.
format	article
author	Patrick T. Rohner Armin P. Moczek
author_facet	Patrick T. Rohner Armin P. Moczek
author_sort	Patrick T. Rohner
title	Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
title_short	Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
title_full	Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
title_fullStr	Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
title_full_unstemmed	Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
title_sort	evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles
publisher	Wiley
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/959cc0cacebb4ebe9b9928ca46e8dec0
work_keys_str_mv	AT patricktrohner evolutionaryandplasticvariationinlarvalgrowthanddigestionrevealthecomplexunderpinningsofsizeandageatmaturationindungbeetles AT arminpmoczek evolutionaryandplasticvariationinlarvalgrowthanddigestionrevealthecomplexunderpinningsofsizeandageatmaturationindungbeetles
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Evolutionary and plastic variation in larval growth and digestion reveal the complex underpinnings of size and age at maturation in dung beetles

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