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Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival

One of the most important defenses for the eggs of ovipositing female organisms is to avoid being laid in the same habitat as their predators. However, for most organisms, completely avoiding an offspring's predators is not possible. One mechanism that has been largely overlooked is for females...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gall, Brian G, Brodie, Edmund D
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501628/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23170211
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.389
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author Gall, Brian G
Brodie, Edmund D
Brodie, Edmund D
author_facet Gall, Brian G
Brodie, Edmund D
Brodie, Edmund D
author_sort Gall, Brian G
collection PubMed
description One of the most important defenses for the eggs of ovipositing female organisms is to avoid being laid in the same habitat as their predators. However, for most organisms, completely avoiding an offspring's predators is not possible. One mechanism that has been largely overlooked is for females to partition an oviposition site into microhabitats that differ in quality for offspring survival. We conducted a series of experiments to examine whether female newts avoid microhabitats utilized by their offspring's primary predator, caddisfly larvae. Female newts avoided laying eggs near predatory caddisflies and shifted egg laying upward in the water column when provided with a vertical dimension. Caddisflies were attracted to chemical stimuli from female newts and their eggs, yet primarily used benthic areas in experimental chambers. Finally, results from a field experiment indicate that the behavioral strategy employed by female newts increases offspring survival. This subset of non-genetic maternal effects, micro-oviposition avoidance, is likely an important yet underexplored mechanism by which females increase offspring survival.
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spelling pubmed-35016282012-11-20 Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival Gall, Brian G Brodie, Edmund D Brodie, Edmund D Ecol Evol Original Research One of the most important defenses for the eggs of ovipositing female organisms is to avoid being laid in the same habitat as their predators. However, for most organisms, completely avoiding an offspring's predators is not possible. One mechanism that has been largely overlooked is for females to partition an oviposition site into microhabitats that differ in quality for offspring survival. We conducted a series of experiments to examine whether female newts avoid microhabitats utilized by their offspring's primary predator, caddisfly larvae. Female newts avoided laying eggs near predatory caddisflies and shifted egg laying upward in the water column when provided with a vertical dimension. Caddisflies were attracted to chemical stimuli from female newts and their eggs, yet primarily used benthic areas in experimental chambers. Finally, results from a field experiment indicate that the behavioral strategy employed by female newts increases offspring survival. This subset of non-genetic maternal effects, micro-oviposition avoidance, is likely an important yet underexplored mechanism by which females increase offspring survival. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012-11 2012-10-01 /pmc/articles/PMC3501628/ /pubmed/23170211 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.389 Text en © 2012 Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.
spellingShingle Original Research
Gall, Brian G
Brodie, Edmund D
Brodie, Edmund D
Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
title Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
title_full Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
title_fullStr Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
title_full_unstemmed Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
title_short Fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
title_sort fine-scale selection by ovipositing females increases egg survival
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501628/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23170211
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.389
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