Data from: Relative contributions of offspring quality and environmental quality to adult field performance

Determinants of adult performance, such as growth and survival, are influenced by extrinsic, environmental and intrinsic, phenotypic factors. The relative importance of extrinsic and intrinsic factors, while ecologically relevant, is rarely estimated simultaneously. We estimate the relative contributions of offspring size (intrinsic) and various environmental factors (extrinsic) on adult performance in the marine colonial bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata. We used a variance partitioning approach for both new and previously published data, enabling us to examine the performance of over 1000 individuals in the field. We found offspring size to explain relatively little variation in adult performance. Of the environmental factors taken to account, temporal variation and an environmental gradient had the strongest influences.

成年个体表现（如生长与存活）的决定因素，受外在因子、环境因子与内在表型因子共同调控。尽管外在与内在因子的相对重要性在生态学研究中具备相关意义，但目前极少有研究能够同时对二者进行量化估算。本研究以海洋集群苔藓虫（Watersipora subtorquata）为研究对象，量化了子代大小（内在因子）与各类环境因子（外在因子）对其成年个体表现的相对贡献。我们采用方差分解法（variance partitioning approach），整合全新采集数据与已发表文献数据，得以在野外环境中对超过1000个个体的表现开展评估。研究结果显示，子代大小仅能解释成年个体表现的极小部分变异；在纳入分析的各类环境因子中，时间变异与环境梯度对成年表现的影响最为显著。