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Sex-specific plasticity in body phosphorus content of Hyalella amphipods

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Abstract

Understanding the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits requires knowledge of the genetic and environmental sources of variation. However, we know surprisingly little about how the sexes differ in their responses to environmental nutrient supply. Here, we investigated how phosphorus (P) availability, a key metric of eutrophication, affects body composition in each sex of two Hyalella amphipod species. We also examined whether differences in food preference and acquisition are responsible for observed variation in body P. We discovered environmentally-driven changes in body P that were dependent on both species and sex. In both species, males contained less P when raised in low-P laboratory conditions compared to high-P field environments, while females exhibited no significant differences. Importantly, this difference was greater in the species that is known to have larger sexual traits and higher growth rates. Variation in P content was not due to differences in acquisition of P because both sexes preferred high-P food and consumed it at a similar rate. Our study illuminates potentially important sex- and species-specific evolutionary consequences of rapid alterations to P availability due to cultural eutrophication.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Buzzard and A. Ridlen for their assistance in this research. We would also like to thank several anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. NSF Grant #0924401 to PDJ supported elemental analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University, 501 Life Sciences West, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Jared M. Goos & Punidan D. Jeyasingh

  2. Department of Biological Sciences and Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Beverly J. French, Rick A. Relyea & Rickey D. Cothran

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  1. Jared M. Goos
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  2. Beverly J. French
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  3. Rick A. Relyea
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  4. Rickey D. Cothran
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Correspondence to Jared M. Goos.

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Handling editor: B. Oertli

Rickey D. Cothran and Punidan D. Jeyasingh are joint senior authors.

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Goos, J.M., French, B.J., Relyea, R.A. et al. Sex-specific plasticity in body phosphorus content of Hyalella amphipods. Hydrobiologia 722, 93–102 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1682-7

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