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Adaptation in response to environmental unpredictability
Lluis Franch-Gras1, Eduardo M García-Roger2, Manuel Serra2
1Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, A.O. 22085, 46071 Valencia, Spain lluis.franch@uv.es.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|December 8, 2017
Summary
Rotifer populations adapt to unpredictable environments by increasing sexual reproduction, a bet-hedging strategy. Diapause egg hatching, however, did not correlate with environmental predictability in this study.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Ecology
- Environmental science
Background:
- Organismal adaptation to environmental fluctuations is key in evolutionary biology.
- Mediterranean rotifer populations face varying habitat unpredictability.
- Cyclically parthenogenetic rotifers reproduce clonally with occasional sex, producing diapausing eggs for survival.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between environmental unpredictability and diapause-related traits in *Brachionus plicatilis* rotifers.
- To test if environmental unpredictability correlates with the propensity for sex and hatching fraction of diapausing eggs.
Main Methods:
- Studied clones from nine *Brachionus plicatilis* populations with varying environmental unpredictability.
- Quantified pond unpredictability using satellite imagery from a previous study.
- Assessed genetic variation for sex propensity and hatching fraction within populations.
Main Results:
- Significant genetic variation was found for both sex propensity and hatching fraction.
- A positive correlation existed between pond unpredictability and the propensity for sexual reproduction.
- No relationship was found between environmental predictability and the hatching fraction of diapausing eggs.
Conclusions:
- Rotifer populations demonstrate local adaptation to time-varying environments.
- Increased sexual reproduction acts as a bet-hedging strategy against unpredictable environments.
- Life-history traits can be linked to quantitative measures of environmental unpredictability.
Keywords:
bet hedgingcyclical parthenogensdiapauseenvironmental unpredictabilitylife-history traitslocal adaptationMore Related Videos
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