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Context-dependent intergenerational effects: the interaction between past and present environments and its effect on

Stewart J Plaistow1, Craig T Lapsley, Tim G Benton

  • 1School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Building, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, United Kingdom. s.plaistow@sheffield.ac.uk

The American Naturalist
|May 4, 2006
PubMed
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Parental environments impact offspring traits for generations. In soil mites, these intergenerational effects persist longer in high-food conditions, influencing population dynamics and evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Population Dynamics

Background:

  • Intergenerational effects, where parental actions influence descendants, are crucial for population dynamics and life-history evolution.
  • The duration and nature of these effects are key but not fully understood.
  • Parental environmental conditions can shape offspring traits beyond immediate survival.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the persistence and variability of intergenerational effects in soil mites under different parental food environments.
  • To determine how parental diet influences the magnitude and duration of transgenerational effects on offspring life history.
  • To understand the context-dependency of intergenerational effects in relation to environmental conditions.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Manipulating parental food environments (high and low) in a soil mite model system.
  • Tracking intergenerational effects on life-history traits (e.g., egg size, age/size at maturity, fecundity, survival) across multiple generations.
  • Analyzing how variation in egg size mediates trade-offs and influences subsequent generations.

    • Main Results:

    • Intergenerational effects were detectable up to three generations later in soil mites.
    • Effects varied significantly between high- and low-food environments and across generations.
    • In low-food conditions, effects diminished over time; in high-food conditions, they persisted and amplified egg-size variation.
    • Egg size variation influenced different life-history trade-offs (age/size at maturity vs. fecundity/survival) depending on the food environment.

    Conclusions:

    • Parental environmental conditions can induce long-lasting intergenerational effects on offspring life history.
    • The persistence and impact of these effects are context-dependent, varying with food availability.
    • These context-dependent intergenerational effects have complex implications for population dynamics and evolutionary trajectories.