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Intraspecific variation in resource use is not explained by population persistence or seasonality

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Abstract

Populations of generalist grazers often contain genotypes with “powerful” and “efficient” strategies. Powerful genotypes grow rapidly on rich-quality resources, but slowly on poorer-quality ones, while efficient genotypes grow relatively better on poorer resources but cannot exploit richer resources as well. Via a “power–efficiency” trade-off, variation in resource quality could maintain genetic diversity. To evaluate this mechanism, we sampled six populations of the freshwater cladoceran Daphnia pulicaria. In persisting (year-round) populations, Daphnia consume resources that vary in quality, whereas in non-persisting (spring-only) populations, Daphnia primarily encounter rich-quality resources. We hypothesized that non-persisting populations harbor no efficient clones (hence should show lower growth on poor-quality resources). Although individuals from non-persisting populations remained smaller than individuals from persisting populations, no evidence arose for a trade-off between powerful and efficient strategies. In fact, growth rates on the two diets were positively correlated (instead of negatively, as predicted). Furthermore, in the persisting populations, we predicted that clonal selection from spring to summer should shift the distribution of genotypes from powerful (specialists on richer spring resources) to efficient (poorer, summer resources). Genetic composition of populations shifted from spring to summer, but not toward more efficient genotypes. Therefore, in these lakes, maintenance of variation among genotypes must stem from more complicated factors than population persistence patterns or seasonal shifts in resource quality alone.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB 1120804, DEB 1120316, DEB 1354407, DEB 1353749) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (research stipends to JWC). Data collection for this project was facilitated by members of the Cáceres lab including: Grace (Abernathy) Pixton, Sarah Duple, Ping Lee, Alissa Heisel, Chris Holmes, Sherin Mahrat, Tara Stewart, and Chris Woolridge. This manuscript has been improved by comments by Catherine Albright Crawford, Becky Fuller, Katy Heath, Chris Holmes, Zoi Rapti, Tara Stewart, Lynette Strickland, Andy Suarez, and Alan Tessier. This is contribution number 2151 of the Kellogg Biological Station.

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  1. Matthew Schrader

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of the South, Sewanee, TN, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA

    John W. Crawford, Matthew Schrader & Carla E. Cáceres

  2. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Spencer R. Hall

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  2. Matthew Schrader
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  4. Carla E. Cáceres
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Contributions

CEC, SRH, and JWC designed the study, JWC and MS collected the data, and JWC and CEC analyzed the data. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carla E. Cáceres.

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Communicated by Ulrich Sommer.

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Crawford, J.W., Schrader, M., Hall, S.R. et al. Intraspecific variation in resource use is not explained by population persistence or seasonality. Oecologia 193, 135–142 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04651-7

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