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Phosphorus availability in the source population influences response to dietary phosphorus quantity in a New Zealand freshwater snail

  • Physiological ecology - original research
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Abstract

We investigated whether previously documented variation among populations in availability of dietary phosphorus (P) is linked to heterogeneity in growth rate of the New Zealand freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum on a P-limited diet. We chose this system because P. antipodarum inhabits water bodies that vary in P availability and because P. antipodarum growth rate varies considerably in response to low P. We quantified specific growth rate and alkaline phosphatase (AP) expression in a diverse array of juvenile P. antipodarum fed high vs. low-P diets. We found strong associations between P content of epilithon in the source lake and P. antipodarum growth rate on high vs. low-P diets, with snails collected from lakes with relatively low-P epilithon showing the greatest increase in growth rate on the high-P relative to low-P diet. We also found substantial intraspecific variation in growth response to P limitation. Expression of AP also varied among lineages and was negatively associated with C: P of lake epilithon but did not explain the relationship between C: P in the lake of origin and sensitivity to P limitation. Together, our results demonstrate a strong signature of the P environment in the lake of origin on how this snail responds to P limitation as well as preliminary evidence for intraspecific variation of AP expression in animals.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by a Basic Research Grant from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming (A. Krist), the National Geographic Society (Grant #9595-14; K. Larkin), Sigma-Xi (Grant #18911100, BR01; L. Bankers), the National Science Foundation (NSF-MCB Grant #1122176; M. Neiman), and the Iowa Science Foundation (Grant #14-03; M. Neiman and L. Bankers). We thank Meghan Bochanski, Michelle Collins, Jace Cussins, Leah Kresl-Hotz, Jake Werner, and Kara Wise for invaluable assistance with experiments, marking snails, changing water, washing cups, feeding snails, and growing algae. We thank Grant Bowman for the use of the BioTek Synergy plate reader for the AP assay, Brian Cherrington for the use of his spectrophotometer for the assays of dietary P content, and Alex Buerkle for the use of his lab for sample preparation for the AP assays and for help with program R, and the University of Wyoming Stable Isotope Facility for elemental analyses. The ploidy identification data presented herein were obtained at the Flow Cytometry Facility, which is a Carver College of Medicine/Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center core research facility at the University of Iowa. The Facility is funded through user fees and the generous financial support of the Carver College of Medicine, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Iowa City Veteran’s Administration Medical Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Physiology and Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

    Amy C. Krist, Michele D. Larson, Daniel J. Greenwood & Marissa A. Dyck

  2. Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Laura Bankers, Katelyn Larkin & Maurine Neiman

Authors
  1. Amy C. Krist
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  2. Laura Bankers
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  3. Katelyn Larkin
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  6. Marissa A. Dyck
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  7. Maurine Neiman
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Contributions

ACK and MN conceived of and designed the study. ACK, LB, KL, and MN contributed to funding. LB and KL collected snails. ACK, LB, KL, MDL, DJG, MAD, and MN performed the study. ACK and MN analyzed the data. ACK and MN wrote the manuscript; other authors provided editorial advice.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Amy C. Krist or Maurine Neiman.

Additional information

Communicated by Leon A. Barmuta.

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Krist, A.C., Bankers, L., Larkin, K. et al. Phosphorus availability in the source population influences response to dietary phosphorus quantity in a New Zealand freshwater snail. Oecologia 185, 595–605 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3983-4

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