Larval plastic responses to warming and desiccation delay gonadal maturation in postmetamorphic spadefoot toads

© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)..

Developmental plasticity allows organisms to adjust life-history traits to varying environmental conditions, which can have concomitant effects across life stages. Many amphibians are suitable model systems to study plasticity because their larvae can adjust growth and differentiation under fluctuating environments. It is unknown, however, whether somatic and gonadal differentiation are equally affected by environmentally induced plasticity or whether their decoupling alters gonadal maturation postmetamorphosis, which may affect fitness. We tested if developmental acceleration in response to warming and desiccation risk results in shifts in gonadal maturation during metamorphosis and postmetamorphic growth in western spadefoot toads (Pelobates cultripes). We found additive effects of increased temperature and desiccation risk on development and growth at metamorphosis, which largely constrained gonadal maturation in metamorphic and postmetamorphic individuals of both sexes. Furthermore, the conditions experienced by larvae incurred sex-specific carryover effects on the gonadal maturation of juveniles 5 months after metamorphosis. In females, high temperature delayed ovarian maturation regardless of the water level. In males, exposure to high temperature and high water levels slightly delayed the testes' maturation. These results highlight the relevance of larval plasticity in the gonadal maturation of species undergoing metamorphosis, which may have implications for population demographics and the evolution of life histories.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:77

Enthalten in:

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution - 77(2023), 12 vom: 02. Dez., Seite 2687-2695

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Burraco, Pablo [VerfasserIn]
Torres-Montoro, Juan Carlos [VerfasserIn]
Gomez-Mestre, Ivan [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

059QF0KO0R
Amphibians
Journal Article
Life-history evolution
Metamorphosis
Phenotypic plasticity
Sexual maturation
Water

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 04.12.2023

Date Revised 04.12.2023

published: Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1093/evolut/qpad180

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM362868514