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Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species

Heterotrophic organisms must obtain essential elements in sufficient quantities from their food. Because plants naturally exhibit extensive variation in their elemental content, it is important to quantify the within-species stoichiometric variation of consumers. If extensive stoichiometric variatio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bertram, S. M., Bowen, M., Kyle, M., Schade, J. D.
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: University of Wisconsin Library 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061598/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20298114
http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.008.2601
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author Bertram, S. M.
Bowen, M.
Kyle, M.
Schade, J. D.
author_facet Bertram, S. M.
Bowen, M.
Kyle, M.
Schade, J. D.
author_sort Bertram, S. M.
collection PubMed
description Heterotrophic organisms must obtain essential elements in sufficient quantities from their food. Because plants naturally exhibit extensive variation in their elemental content, it is important to quantify the within-species stoichiometric variation of consumers. If extensive stoichiometric variation exists, it may help explain consumer variation in life-history strategy and fitness. To date, however, research on stoichiometric variation has focused on interspecific differences and assumed minimal intraspecific differences. Here this assumption is tested. Natural variation is quantified in body stoichiometry of two terrestrial insects: the generalist field cricket, Gryllus texensis Cade and Otte (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) and a specialist curculionid weevil, Sabinia setosa (Le Conte) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Both species exhibited extensive intraspecific stoichiometric variation. Cricket body nitrogen content ranged from 8–12% and there was a four-fold difference in body phosphorus content, ranging from 0.32–1.27%. Body size explained half this stoichiometric variation, with larger individuals containing less nitrogen and phosphorus. Weevils exhibited an almost three-fold difference in body phosphorus content, ranging from 0.38–0.97%. Overall, the variation observed within each of these species is comparable to the variation previously observed across almost all terrestrial insect species.
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spelling pubmed-30615982011-07-21 Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species Bertram, S. M. Bowen, M. Kyle, M. Schade, J. D. J Insect Sci Article Heterotrophic organisms must obtain essential elements in sufficient quantities from their food. Because plants naturally exhibit extensive variation in their elemental content, it is important to quantify the within-species stoichiometric variation of consumers. If extensive stoichiometric variation exists, it may help explain consumer variation in life-history strategy and fitness. To date, however, research on stoichiometric variation has focused on interspecific differences and assumed minimal intraspecific differences. Here this assumption is tested. Natural variation is quantified in body stoichiometry of two terrestrial insects: the generalist field cricket, Gryllus texensis Cade and Otte (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) and a specialist curculionid weevil, Sabinia setosa (Le Conte) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Both species exhibited extensive intraspecific stoichiometric variation. Cricket body nitrogen content ranged from 8–12% and there was a four-fold difference in body phosphorus content, ranging from 0.32–1.27%. Body size explained half this stoichiometric variation, with larger individuals containing less nitrogen and phosphorus. Weevils exhibited an almost three-fold difference in body phosphorus content, ranging from 0.38–0.97%. Overall, the variation observed within each of these species is comparable to the variation previously observed across almost all terrestrial insect species. University of Wisconsin Library 2008-03-27 /pmc/articles/PMC3061598/ /pubmed/20298114 http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.008.2601 Text en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Article
Bertram, S. M.
Bowen, M.
Kyle, M.
Schade, J. D.
Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species
title Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species
title_full Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species
title_fullStr Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species
title_full_unstemmed Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species
title_short Extensive Natural Intraspecific Variation in Stoichiometric (C:N:P) Composition in Two Terrestrial Insect Species
title_sort extensive natural intraspecific variation in stoichiometric (c:n:p) composition in two terrestrial insect species
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061598/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20298114
http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.008.2601
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