Data and code for the manuscript: "An ecological explanation for hyperallometric scaling of reproduction"

Code, data, and data objects underlying the analyses presented in the manuscript "An ecological explanation for hyperallometric scaling of reproduction".

A version of the manuscript is available on bioRxiv: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.12.435090

Abstract for the manuscript:

"In wild populations, large individuals have disproportionately higher reproductive output than smaller individuals. Some theoretical models explain this pattern – termed reproductive hyperallometry – by individuals allocating a greater fraction of available energy towards reproductive effort as they grow. Here, we propose an ecological explanation for this observation: differences between individuals in rates of resource assimilation, where greater assimilation causes both increased reproduction and body size, resulting in reproductive hyperallometry at the level of the population. We illustrate this effect by determining the relationship between size and reproduction in wild and lab-reared Trinidadian guppies. We show that (i) reproduction increased disproportionately with body size in the wild but not in the lab, where resource competition was eliminated; (ii) in the wild, hyperallometry was greatest during the wet season, when resource competition is strongest; and (iii) detection of hyperallometric scaling of reproduction at the population level was inevitable if individual differences in assimilation were ignored. We propose that ecologically-driven variation in assimilation – caused by size-dependent resource competition, niche expansion, and chance – contributes substantially to hyperallometric scaling of reproduction in natural populations. We recommend that mechanistic models incorporate such ecologically-caused variation when seeking to explain reproductive hyperallometry.'

The zip file contains:

1. A single R script for running the analyses, generating the results, and producing the figures given in the manuscript 

- size_reproduction_scaling_lab_wild.R 

2. Two .csv files containing the wild and lab datasets used in the study:

- wild_guppy_data_81-87.csv (the wild dataset)
- senecence_long_data.csv (the lab dataset)

3. A folder containing 14 model objects. These are the models produced by running the R script. These are provided to save the user time. The model object names correspond to the models described in Table 1 of the manuscript.

4. A READ_ME.txt file.