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- Title
INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION ALTERS NONLINEAR SELECTION ON OFFSPRING SIZE IN THE FIELD.
- Authors
Marshall, Dustin J.; Monro, Keyne
- Abstract
Offspring size is one of the most important life-history traits with consequences for both the ecology and evolution of most organisms. Surprisingly, formal estimates of selection on offspring size are rare, and the degree to which selection (particularly nonlinear selection) varies among environments remains poorly explored. We estimate linear and nonlinear selection on offspring size, module size, and senescence rate for a sessile marine invertebrate in the field under three different intensities of interspecific competition. The intensity of competition strongly modified the strength and form of selection acting on offspring size. We found evidence for differences in nonlinear selection across the three environments. Our results suggest that the fitness returns of a given offspring size depend simultaneously on their environmental context, and on the context of other offspring traits. Offspring size effects can be more pervasive with regards to their influence on the fitness returns of other traits than previously recognized, and we suggest that the evolution of offspring size cannot be understood in isolation from other traits. Overall, variability in the form and strength of selection on offspring size in nature may reduce the efficacy of selection on offspring size and maintain variation in this trait.
- Subjects
COMPETITION (Biology); ANIMAL offspring sex ratio; BIOLOGICAL evolution; MARINE invertebrates; REPRODUCTIVE isolation
- Publication
Evolution, 2013, Vol 67, Issue 2, p328
- ISSN
0014-3820
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01749.x