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Linking individual diet variation and fecundity in an omnivorous marine consumer

  • Population ecology - Original research
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Abstract

Individual diet variation is a common feature of populations. This variation may be particularly common in near-shore marine benthic habitats where omnivory is prevalent and prey availability is spatially variable. Accurately predicting population responses to anthropogenic change that is occurring rapidly in these systems requires a quantitative link between individual diet variation and fecundity. Here I develop this quantitative link for the European green crab Carcinus maenas, specifically focusing on variation in the relative amounts of plant and animal material included in the diet. I demonstrate both short- and long-term diet variation between crabs as well as large individual variation in fecundity. I then quantitatively link variation in diet and fecundity using a laboratory feeding experiment. Fecundity increased by approximately 5,200 eggs when daily consumption of animal tissue increased by 1 % of body weight, but was not influenced by the most commonly consumed algal species. Results presented here have important implications for understanding population dynamics in general, and also provide information necessary for accurately predicting population growth of this widespread invader.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Hallie Mosblack for assistance in conducting the laboratory experiment. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, grant number OCE-1129166 and by the University of South Carolina.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Blaine D. Griffen

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  1. Blaine D. Griffen
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Correspondence to Blaine D. Griffen.

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Communicated by Pete Peterson.

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Griffen, B.D. Linking individual diet variation and fecundity in an omnivorous marine consumer. Oecologia 174, 121–130 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2751-3

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