Data from: Maternal body condition influences magnitude of anti-predator response in offspring

Organisms exhibit plasticity in response to their environment, but there
is large variation even within populations in the expression and magnitude
of response. Maternal influence alters offspring survival through size
advantages in growth and development. However, the relationship between
maternal influence and variation in plasticity in response to predation
risk is unknown. We hypothesized that variation in the magnitude of
plastic responses between families is at least partly due to maternal
provisioning and examined the relationship between maternal condition, egg
provisioning and magnitude of plastic response to perceived predation risk
(by dragonfly larvae: Aeshna spp.) in northern leopard frogs (Lithobates
pipiens). Females in better body condition tended to lay more (clutch
size) larger (egg diameter) eggs. Tadpoles responded to predation risk by
increasing relative tail depth (morphology) and decreasing activity
(behaviour). We found a positive relationship between morphological effect
size and maternal condition, but no relationship between behavioural
effect size and maternal condition. These novel findings suggest that
limitations imposed by maternal condition can constrain phenotypic
variation, ultimately influencing the capacity of populations to respond
to environmental change.