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Relationship Between Habitat Distribution, Growth Rate, and Plasticity in Congeneric Larval Dragonflies

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Relationship Between Habitat Distribution, Growth Rate, and Plasticity in Congeneric Larval Dragonflies 1128 NOTE / NOTE Relationship between habitat distribution, growth rate, and plasticity in congeneric larval dragonflies S.J. McCauley Abstract: The relationship between habitat distribution, growth rate, and plasticity was examined in the larvae of three species of dragonfly in the genus Libellula L., 1758. Growth rates were compared under three conditions: in the ab­ sence of predation risk, in the presence of sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, 1819; Pisciformes: Centrachidae), and in the presence of invertebrate predators. I assessed how the habitat distributions of the three species of dragonfly, specifically how commonly they occur with fish, were related to growth rates and to the level of growth plasticity un­ der different levels of perceived predation risk. There was a negative relationship between growth rate and the fre­ quency with which species coexist with sunfish. Growth-rate plasticity was limited and does not appear to be important in determining the ability of species to coexist with alternative top predator types. Only one species exhibited growth- rate plasticity, decreasing growth in response to the predator with which it most commonly coexists but not to the spe­ cies which poses the greatest predation risk. A comparison of growth rates and activity levels in the presence and ab­ sence of these predators suggests that growth and activity level parallel each other in these species. Résumé : La relation entre la répartition de l’habitat, le taux de croissance et la plasticité a été étudiée chez des larves de trois espèces de libellules du genre Libellula L., 1758. La comparaison des taux de croissance s’est faite sous trois conditions, soit en absence de risque de prédation, en présence de crapets (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, 1819; Pis­ ciformes : Centrachidae) et en présence d’invertébrés prédateurs. L’objectif était d’évaluer comment les répartitions des habitats larvaires des trois espèces, et en particulier la fréquence de cohabitation avec les poissons, sont reliées aux taux de croissance et au niveau de plasticité de la croissance sous divers niveaux de perception de risques de prédation. Il y a une relation négative entre le taux de croissance et la fréquence de coexistence des espèces avec les crapets. La plasticité du taux de croissance est limitée et ne semble pas être d’importance pour déterminer la capacité des espèces à cohabiter avec les divers types de prédateurs supérieurs. Une seule espèce possède une plasticité du taux de crois­ sance : elle diminue sa croissance en réaction au prédateur avec lequel elle cohabite le plus communément, mais non à l’espèce qui pose le plus grand risque de prédation. Une comparaison des taux de croissance et des niveaux d’activité en présence de prédateurs et en leur absence laisse croire que la croissance et le niveau d’activité vont de pair chez ces espèces. [Traduit par la Rédaction] McCauley 1133 Introduction tively associated with many aspects of fitness in animals (Clutton-Brock 1988; Roff 1992; Stearns 1992), including Species’ growth rates are often subject to opposing selec­ insects (Thornhill and Alcock 1983; Honek 1993; odonates: tion pressures (Arendt 1997), and the resolution of trade-offs Sokolovska et al. 2000). High growth rates, however, may in response to these selection pressures may affect the rela­ also have physiological and developmental costs (Arendt 1997) tive performance of species across habitat gradients or re- and increase the risk of mortality from predators (reviewed flect exposure to alternative selection pressures encountered in Gotthard 2001). This trade-off between predation risk and across these distributions. Growth rate is subject to selection growth rate can be mediated by foraging rate, which in- because body size, the ultimate result of growth, is posi­ creases resource uptake to fuel growth but also increases exposure to predators (Werner and Anholt 1993). The differ­ Received 15 February 2005. Accepted 21 July 2005. ential resolution of this trade-off can play an important role Published on the NRC Research Press Web site at in determining the distribution of species across habitat gra­ http://cjz.nrc.ca on 15 September 2005. dients associated with transitions in the top predator commu­ S.J. McCauley. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary nity. Biology, University of Michigan, 830 North University A top predator transition is common in aquatic systems, Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048 USA (e-mail: where fish dominate in more permanent habitats and inverte­ [email protected]). brates dominate in less permanent sites (Wellborn et al. Can. J. Zool. 83: 1128–1133 (2005) doi: 10.1139/Z05-103 © 2005 NRC Canada McCauley 1129 1996). For odonate species that segregate across this transi­ Fig. 1. The distributions of three species of Libellula across hab­ tion, those species associated with habitats in which fish are itats with alternative top predators. Bars represent the propor­ the top predators are typically less active than species which tional occurrence of species in sites of each top predator type, occur in habitats where invertebrates are top predators which was calculated as the number of sites of each top predator (McPeek 2004 and references therein). Lower activity levels type where a species was collected divided by the total number are associated with lower risk of mortality from fish but may of sites in which the species was collected in a survey of 57 have costs in reduced growth rates leading to longer devel­ lakes and ponds in southeastern Michigan (data in McCauley opmental periods or smaller body sizes at emergence. Con­ 2005). sequently, species that commonly use fish habitats are 1.0 expected to have lower growth rates than species that pri­ marily co-occur with invertebrate top predators. Species may Sunfish habitats Invertebrate habitats also, however, coexist with multiple top predator types. 0.8 Plasticity is expected to be advantageous for organisms that must cope with environmental variability (Schlichting and Pigliucci 1998). Therefore, resolving the trade-offs associ­ 0.6 ated with each end of the habitat spectrum may favor plas­ ticity in both activity levels and growth rates in species with 0.4 generalist habitat distributions. Proportion of sites This study examined the relationship between species’ distributions, larval growth rates, and growth-rate plasti­ 0.2 city in three congeneric dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera: Libellula L., 1758). Larval growth rates and the degree of 0.0 growth plasticity were measured in the presence and absence L. pulchella L. luctuosa L. incesta of predators common in different portions of the habitat gra­ dient. I predicted that there would be a negative relationship between the frequency with which species are found in high- 2005). The level of predation risk in Anax habitats varies risk predator environments and their intrinsic growth rates. I over the ontogeny of the Anax population. Larval Anax pop­ also predicted that species which encounter multiple top ulations within habitats can be strongly synchronized (per­ predator types across their distribution would exhibit greater sonal observation) and early-instar Anax that have colonized levels of plasticity than species with restricted distributions. ponds in spring pose little risk to Libellula larvae that have Finally, I examined how growth was allocated to the major over-wintered, because of the size relationship between the body segments, thorax and abdomen, across species and two species. During the Anax flight season, Anax larvae may predator treatments. The size of the larval thorax is signifi­ be entirely absent from these ponds (S.J. McCauley, unpub­ cantly correlated with the size of the thorax in the adult at lished data). These factors result in a high degree of tempo­ emergence (McCauley 2005), making these allocation pat­ ral variability in the abundance of Anax and the level of terns of interest for the effects of growth patterns across this threat they pose within these habitats. life-history transition. Growth rate experiment Methods Larvae were collected from ponds on the University of Michigan’s E.S. George Reserve and the surrounding Study system Pinckney recreation area (42°28′N, 84°00′W) in southeast­ The three Libellula species used in this study have similar ern Michigan. Collection sites included both sunfish and developmental periods (each has an approximately 10-month Anax top predator environments, and species were collected aquatic larval stage), but differ in their distributional from sites that represent the mix of habitats into which they breadths with respect to the top predator community. Lentic naturally recruit. Species were preliminarily identified based habitats in southeastern Michigan include two common on characteristics that differentiate species co-occurring in top predator environments: those dominated by sunfish these sites. Definitive species-level identification of larvae (Pisciformes: Centrachidae) and those in which large inver­ requires examination of the interior mouthparts, a process tebrates are the top predator (principally larvae of the that may negatively and permanently affect feeding behavior. aeshnid dragonfly Anax junius (Drury, 1773); hereinafter Consequently, final species-level identifications were made simply Anax). Two species examined in this study (Libellula after larvae were preserved individually at the end of the ex­ pulchella Drury, 1773 and Libellula luctuosa Burmeister, periment. 1839) occur with both top predator types,
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