Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity within- and across-generations: a challenge for theory?

Walsh, Matthew; Cooley, Frank; Biles, Kelsey; Munch, Stephan B.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2205

Cited by 82 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…However, an alternative explanation could be that poikilothermic individuals having completed their egg development as well as the initial period after birth at the same temperature as their mothers perform best at that temperature due to within-generation phenotypic plasticity. Late transfer of offspring and within-generation phenotypic plasticity could also potentially confound other studies that investigate the role of TGP in asexual animals with respect to environmental variables such as food concentration [42,43], pathogen abundance [43][44][45], exposure to toxic substances [46], predator presence [47], and temperature and salinity [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence for thermal transgenerational plasticity in metabolism when minimizing the potential for confounding effects

2017

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Environmental change may cause phenotypic changes that are inherited across generations through transgenerational plasticity (TGP). If TGP is adaptive, offspring fitness increases with an increasing match between parent and offspring environment. Here we test for adaptive TGP in somatic growth and metabolic rate in response to temperature in the clonal zooplankton Daphnia pulex. Animals of the first focal generation experienced thermal transgenerational 'mismatch' ( parental and offspring temperatures differed), whereas conditions of the next two generations matched the (grand)maternal thermal conditions. Adjustments of metabolic rate occurred during the lifetime of the first generation (i.e. within-generation plasticity). However, no further change was observed during the subsequent two generations, as would be expected under TGP. Furthermore, we observed no tendency for increased juvenile somatic growth (a trait highly correlated with fitness in Daphnia) over the three generations when reared at new temperatures. These results are inconsistent with existing studies of thermal TGP, and we describe how previous experimental designs may have confounded TGP with within-generation plasticity and selective mortality. We suggest that the current evidence for thermal TGP is weak. To increase our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary role of TGP, future studies should more carefully identify possible confounding factors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence for thermal transgenerational plasticity in metabolism when minimizing the potential for confounding effects

2017

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“…We recently used this interplay between Daphnia and their fish predators to quantify patterns of TGP in Daphnia [15]. We found that Daphnia exposed to predator cues programmed future generations for faster development [15]. More importantly, this work revealed an extensive genetic variation in the direction and magnitude of phenotypic responses to predator cues within and across generations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Daphnia are also well known to respond phenotypically to the presence of predators by producing morphological defences (head and tail spines) and altering life-history traits [30,31]. We recently used this interplay between Daphnia and their fish predators to quantify patterns of TGP in Daphnia [15]. We found that Daphnia exposed to predator cues programmed future generations for faster development [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…TGP has been documented in organisms spanning the tree of life [1] and provides us an additional mechanism by which organisms may respond to environmental stressors such as rising temperatures [5], food shortages [6], and canopy shading [7]. While there exist numerous examples of TGP that are assumed to be adaptive and thus shaped by natural selection [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], tests of the ecological conditions that favour evolutionary shifts in TGP remain conspicuously absent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…divergent patterns of plasticity across population) [35] and that Daphnia programme future generations for faster development and increased reproductive outputs when exposed to predators (i.e. existence of TGP) [15] (figure 1). Thus, if within-and across-generation plasticity evolve in concert, then we expect that such transgenerational responses will also be stronger in Daphnia from anadromous lakes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local adaptation in transgenerational responses to predators

et al. 2016

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Environmental signals can induce phenotypic changes that span multiple generations. Along with phenotypic responses that occur during development (i.e. 'within-generation' plasticity), such 'transgenerational plasticity' (TGP) has been documented in a diverse array of taxa spanning many environmental perturbations. New theory predicts that temporal stability is a key driver of the evolution of TGP. We tested this prediction using natural populations of zooplankton from lakes in Connecticut that span a large gradient in the temporal dynamics of predator-induced mortality. We reared more than 120 clones of Daphnia ambigua from nine lakes for multiple generations in the presence/ absence of predator cues. We found that temporal variation in mortality selects for within-generation plasticity while consistently strong (or weak) mortality selects for increased TGP. Such results provide us the first evidence for local adaptation in TGP and argue that divergent ecological conditions select for phenotypic responses within and across generations.

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Predators modify the temperature dependence of life‐history trade‐offs

Luhring

Vavra

Cressler

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Although life histories are shaped by temperature and predation, their joint influence on the interdependence of life‐history traits is poorly understood. Shifts in one life‐history trait often necessitate shifts in another—structured in some cases by trade‐offs—leading to differing life‐history strategies among environments. The offspring size–number trade‐off connects three traits whereby a constant reproductive allocation (R) constrains how the number (O) and size (S) of offspring change. Increasing temperature and size‐independent predation decrease size at and time to reproduction which can lower R through reduced time for resource accrual or size‐constrained fecundity. We investigated how O, S, and R in a clonal population of Daphnia magna change across their first three clutches with temperature and size‐independent predation risk. Early in ontogeny, increased temperature moved O and S along a trade‐off curve (constant R) toward fewer larger offspring. Later in ontogeny, increased temperature reduced R in the no‐predator treatment through disproportionate decreases in O relative to S. In the predation treatment, R likewise decreased at warmer temperatures but to a lesser degree and more readily traded off S for O whereby the third clutch showed a constant allocation strategy of O versus S with decreasing R. Ontogenetic shifts in S and O rotated in a counterclockwise fashion as temperature increased and more drastically under risk of predation. These results show that predation risk can alter the temperature dependence of traits and their interactions through trade‐offs.

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Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity within- and across-generations: a challenge for theory?

Cited by 82 publications

References 47 publications

No evidence for thermal transgenerational plasticity in metabolism when minimizing the potential for confounding effects

No evidence for thermal transgenerational plasticity in metabolism when minimizing the potential for confounding effects

Local adaptation in transgenerational responses to predators

Predators modify the temperature dependence of life‐history trade‐offs

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