Altitudinal Variation in Body Size and Population Density of<i>Nicrophorus investigator</i>(Coleoptera: Silphidae)

Smith, Rosemary J.; Hines, Amy; Richmond, Stephanie; Merrick, Melissa J.; Drew, Allison E.; Fargo, Rachelle

doi:10.1093/ee/29.2.290

Cited by 38 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Smith and Heese (1995) examined populations of N. investigator to carcasses at altitudes of 2,900 m and found a positive correlation between carcass mass and brood mass, with carcass selection having a direct influence on the reproductive success of the species. Similarly, Smith et al (2000) examined the altitudinal variation in body size and population density in N. investigator. It was shown that growth efficiency was higher at high elevations, and at low elevations, brood size increased with carcass mass density.…”

Section: Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Results showed that carrion beetles were most diverse in temperate zones and intermediate elevations in the collection sites, (i.e., the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA), and that there were direct influences of temperature and vegetation diversity on the abundance of species. Smith et al (2000) compared the reproductive success of N. investigator on carcasses buried at different depths in two treatments-smoothed soil or holes created by rodents-showing a positive correlation between burrowing rodent activity and N. investigator reproductive success. Anderson and Peck (1986) examined the color variation of Nicrophorus burying beetles across several states in the United States, including Colorado.…”

Section: Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of Forensic Entomology literature in the Mountain Prairie region of the United States

Hans

Yoho

Parrott

et al. 2021

WIREs Forensic Science

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A comprehensive review of literature in forensic entomology from the Mountain Prairie region of the United States was conducted. Eight states are included in this region, which provided 129 total publications. The main focus areas of published studies were arrival and decomposition, molecular/genetic, and biodiversity. While some states have produced a great deal of research and information pertaining to forensic entomology, others have produced very little. Within this region, there are very few reports of forensic entomology casework, which is crucial in this growing field. Additional work is needed in this area of the United States in many of the research areas related to forensic entomology. This article is categorized under: Forensic Biology > Forensic Entomology Crime Scene Investigation > Crime Scene Examination

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Section: Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of Forensic Entomology literature in the Mountain Prairie region of the United States

Hans

Yoho

Parrott

et al. 2021

WIREs Forensic Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The capacity of a single genotype to exhibit variable phenotypes in response to changing environmental conditions (i.e., phenotypic plasticity) is typical in insects (see review in [1]). For instance, the divergence of body size, mating and life-history strategies, population dynamics, alternative morphologies, and diapause are stimulated by plastic responses to adverse factors such as low temperature or poor nutrition [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Altitudinal ranges are generally accompanied by heterogeneous environments including microclimatic gradients [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both increased and decreased body sizes with higher altitude and/or temperature have been noted in ectotherms. Increases in body size with altitude are explained by a negative correlation between developmental temperature and size in unlimited resource environments [4,8,19,20]. On the other hand, reductions in body size with altitude are attributed to resource limitations that restrict potential growth [21,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpopulation Plasticity in a Darkling Beetle Life-History along a Whole Oceanic Island Altitudinal Gradient

López

Hervías‐Parejo

Morales

et al. 2021

Insects

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Insects show remarkable phenotypic plasticity in response to changing environmental conditions. The abiotic factors that determine their phenotypes often vary in time and space, and oceanic islands harbour ideal environments for testing predictions on this matter. The ubiquitous beetle Pimelia laevigata costipennis Wollaston, 1864 (Tenebrionidae) is distributed over the entire altitudinal gradient of the island El Hierro (Canary archipelago), from 0 to 1501 m above sea level. Here, we examine how environmental factors (i.e., rainfall and temperature), associated with the altitudinal gradient, affect the body size, reproductive phenology, clutch size and egg volume, and population dynamics of this ectothermic flightless insect. Pimelia l. costipennis populations inhabiting upland localities, typified by lower temperatures, and greater precipitation and vegetation cover, were larger in body size and laid larger clutches with smaller eggs than those in the lowlands. Moreover, reproduction occurred earlier in the year at lower sites and later at higher sites, whereas activity density was highest in the uplands where it increases with temperature. This study first explores the changes in life history patterns along a whole insular altitudinal gradient, and finds interpopulation plasticity. It confirms that environmental factors associated with species spatial distribution act additively as drivers of phenological and phenotypic expression.

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“…In contrast, altitudinal clines in the size of species are often studied along localised transects (e.g. Smith et al, 2000), or in some cases over 10-100 km at most (e.g. Eweleit & Reinhold, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect temperature–body size trends common to laboratory, latitudinal and seasonal gradients are not found across altitudes

2018

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Body size affects rates of most biological and ecological processes, from individual performance to ecosystem function, and is fundamentally linked to organism fitness. Within species, size at maturity can vary systematically with environmental temperature in the laboratory and across seasons, as well as over latitudinal gradients. Recent meta‐analyses have revealed a close match in the magnitude and direction of these size gradients in various arthropod orders, suggesting that these size responses share common drivers. As with increasing latitude, temperature also decreases with increasing altitude. Although the general direction of body size clines along altitudinal gradients has been examined previously, to our knowledge altitude–body size (A–S) clines have never been synthesised quantitatively, nor compared with temperature–size (T–S) responses measured under controlled laboratory conditions. Here we quantitatively examine variation in intraspecific A–S clines among 121 insect species from 50 different global locations, representing 12 taxonomic orders. While some taxa were better represented in the literature than others, our analysis reveals extensive variation in the magnitude and direction of A–S clines. Following the assumption that temperature on average declines by 1°C per 150 m increase in altitude, order‐specific A–S clines in the field appear to deviate from laboratory T–S responses. Specifically, the magnitude of A–S clines and T–S responses are more closely matched in some taxonomic orders (e.g. Diptera) than others (e.g. Orthoptera). These findings contrast with the strong co‐variation observed between latitude‐size clines and T–S responses, and between laboratory and seasonal T–S responses. The lack of clear size relationships with elevation, and hence temperature, is likely due to the counteracting effects of other major drivers with altitude, including season length and oxygen partial pressure. Switches in voltinism within species across altitude, and the dispersal of individuals across different elevations, may also obscure trends. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13031/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Altitudinal Variation in Body Size and Population Density ofNicrophorus investigator(Coleoptera: Silphidae)

Cited by 38 publications

References 41 publications

A review of Forensic Entomology literature in the Mountain Prairie region of the United States

A review of Forensic Entomology literature in the Mountain Prairie region of the United States

Interpopulation Plasticity in a Darkling Beetle Life-History along a Whole Oceanic Island Altitudinal Gradient

Insect temperature–body size trends common to laboratory, latitudinal and seasonal gradients are not found across altitudes

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