Journal
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 3, Issue 11, Pages 3918-3924Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.759
Keywords
Environmental gradients; functional linkages; life-history traits; mixed models; phenotypic variability; Talitridae
Categories
Funding
- Fondo Clemente Estable [4034]
- Global Environmental Facility [GCP URU 030 GFF]
- PEDECIBA PhD programme
- Pew Charitable Trusts
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Determining the existence of interconnected responses among life-history traits and identifying underlying environmental drivers are recognized as key goals for understanding the basis of phenotypic variability. We studied potentially interconnected responses among senescence, fecundity, embryos size, weight of brooding females, size at maturity and sex ratio in a semiterrestrial amphipod affected by macroscale gradients in beach morphodynamics and salinity. To this end, multiple modelling processes based on generalized additive mixed models were used to deal with the spatio-temporal structure of the data obtained at 10 beaches during 22months. Salinity was the only nexus among life-history traits, suggesting that this physiological stressor influences the energy balance of organisms. Different salinity scenarios determined shifts in the weight of brooding females and size at maturity, having consequences in the number and size of embryos which in turn affected sex determination and sex ratio at the population level. Our work highlights the importance of analysing field data to find the variables and potential mechanisms that define concerted responses among traits, therefore defining life-history strategies.
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