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Competition induces silver spoon effects in developing anuran larvae

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Abstract

Early life conditions can have lifelong impacts on survival and fitness. Silver spoon effects occur when favorable early life conditions provide advantages through adulthood, even if conditions worsen. Alternatively, compensatory growth allows organisms initially reared in unfavorable conditions to grow more quickly than expected should conditions improve. We examined these possibilities in the American Toad, Anaxyrus americanus, by rearing larvae in low and high competition environments and then transferring them to either high- or low-resource levels. We measured growth one-week post-transfer and toadlet size after metamorphosis. We also dissected larvae and toadlets from each treatment to examine effects on organ size. Before transfer, larvae reared with low competition grew significantly faster than those reared with high competition. Consistent with the silver spoon hypothesis, these larvae ate significantly more food, continued to grow faster post-transfer, and metamorphosed into larger toadlets with smaller livers and larger guts than those initially reared with high competition, despite having the same food availability within a resource level. Overall, our study demonstrates that larvae initially reared in favorable conditions maintain a growth advantage through metamorphosis even if resource levels decline. Future studies should explore the effects of this advantage post-metamorphosis and into adulthood.

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Data availability

The data sets generated and analyzed during this study are available in the Dryad repository https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pvmcvdngc.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Biology & Earth Science Department at Otterbein University for logistical support of this project. Erin Ulrich was particularly helpful in providing supplies and equipment, and Molly Kukawka, Justin McCurdy, Delaney Galbraith and Emma Kimberly assisted with the experimental set up and data collection. This work was conducted under Wild Animal Permit 17-125 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife and with approval from the Otterbein University Animal Care and Use Committee. All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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  1. Department of Biology and Earth Science, Otterbein University, 1 S. Grove St., Westerville, OH, 43081, USA

    Samantha M. Bonifas & Sarah S. Bouchard

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  1. Samantha M. Bonifas
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  2. Sarah S. Bouchard
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Both authors contributed to the study conception and design, as well as the data collection and analysis. The first manuscript was written by SB, and SB commented on previous versions. Both authors participated in manuscript revisions and both approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sarah S. Bouchard.

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This work was conducted under Wild Animal Permit 17-125 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife and with approval from the Otterbein University Animal Care and Use Committee. All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Bonifas, S.M., Bouchard, S.S. Competition induces silver spoon effects in developing anuran larvae. Hydrobiologia 848, 1219–1230 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04492-8

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