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Maternal effects on phenotypic plasticity in larvae of the salamander Hynobius retardatus

  • Behavioral Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Maternal effects are widespread and influence a variety of traits, for example, life history strategies, mate choice, and capacity to avoid predation. Therefore, maternal effects may also influence phenotypic plasticity of offspring, but few studies have addressed the relationship between maternal effects and phenotypic plasticity of offspring. We examined the relationship between a maternally influenced trait (egg size) and the phenotypic plasticity of the induction rate of the broad-headed morph in the salamander Hynobius retardatus. The relationship between egg size and the induction of the broad-headed morph was tested across experimental crowding conditions (densities of low conspecifics, high conspecifics, and high heterospecific anuran), using eggs and larvae from eight natural populations with different larval densities of conspecifics and heterospecifics. The broad-headed morph has a large mouth that enables it to consume either conspecifics or heterospecifics, and this ability gives survival advantages over the normal morph. We have determined that there is phenotypic plasticity in development, as shown by an increase in the frequency of broad-headed morph in response to an increase in the density of conspecifics and heterospecifics. This reaction norm differed between populations. We also determined that the frequency of the broad-headed morph is affected by egg size in which larger egg size resulted in expression of the broad-headed morph. Furthermore, we determined that selection acting on the propensity to develop the broad-headed morph has produced a change in egg size. Lastly, we found that an increase in egg size alters the reaction norm to favor development of the broad-headed morph. For example, an equal change in experimental density produces a greater change in the frequency of the broad-headed morph in larvae developing from large eggs than it does in larvae developing from small eggs. Population differences in plasticity might be the results of differences in egg size between populations, which is caused by the adaptive integration of the plasticity and egg size. Phenotypic plasticity can not evolve independently of maternal effects.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the comments and suggestions of Ross Alford, Paul Doughty and anonymous reviewers on earlier versions of this manuscript. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No 15009850) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Life System Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Hirofumi Michimae & Masami Wakahara

  2. Graduate School of Fishery Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, 041-8611, Japan

    Kinya Nishimura

  3. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4370, USA

    Yoichiro Tamori

  4. Division of Biostatistics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kitasato University, Tokyo, 108-8641, Japan

    Hirofumi Michimae

Authors
  1. Hirofumi Michimae
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  2. Kinya Nishimura
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  3. Yoichiro Tamori
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  4. Masami Wakahara
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Correspondence to Hirofumi Michimae.

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Communicated by Ross Alford.

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Michimae, H., Nishimura, K., Tamori, Y. et al. Maternal effects on phenotypic plasticity in larvae of the salamander Hynobius retardatus . Oecologia 160, 601–608 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1319-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1319-8

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