Effects of early-life diet on mortality of juvenile Nucella canaliculata quantified in the laboratory after 3 months on experimental diets

The field of eco-evolutionary dynamics analyzes the reciprocal impacts that ecological and evolutionary processes have on one another on contemporary timescales. A promising approach for studying eco-evolutionary dynamics is to explore whether variation acting over rapid timescales can impose selection on existing within population-variation in functional traits. The Bodega Marine Reserve population of the Channeled Dogwhelk, Nucella canaliculata, contains a mix of drilling phenotypes. A selection experiment was performed to determine the effects of four early-life diet treatments (thin-shelled Mytilus trossulus mussels, two treatments of M. californianus from two populations known to differ in shell thickness, and acorn barnacles) on N. canaliculata phenotype. Dogwhelks were hatched in the laboratory and mortality of juvenile dogwhelks was quantified in the laboratory after 3 months on the experimental diets.生态进化动力学（eco-evolutionary dynamics）领域聚焦于探究当代时间尺度下，生态过程与进化过程之间的双向互作效应。探究快速时间尺度下的变异能否对种群内现存功能性状变异施加选择压力，是研究生态进化动力学的极具前景的路径。博德加海洋保护区（Bodega Marine Reserve）的沟纹荔枝螺（Channeled Dogwhelk，学名Nucella canaliculata）种群存在多种钻食表型。本研究开展选择实验，以明确4种幼体期日粮处理对沟纹荔枝螺表型的影响，具体为：薄壳贻贝（Mytilus trossulus）、取自两个壳厚存在差异的种群的加州贻贝（M. californianus）的两个处理组，以及橡子藤壶（acorn barnacles）。所有实验个体均在实验室中孵化，在饲喂上述实验日粮3个月后，统计幼体荔枝螺的死亡率。