“Is the tradeoff between reproduction and locomotion plastic in response to oxidative stress and food limitation in a field cricket?”
Poster Number
10C
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Zachary Stahlschmidt
Faculty Mentor Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract/Artist Statement
Animals are under selection to optimize several traits associated with fitness, such as reproduction, growth, and self-maintenance. However, a tradeoff among traits often occurs wherein an animal invests into one trait at the expense of investment into another trait. Such two-trait tradeoffs may be fixed, but they may also be plastic in response to the environment (e.g., a tradeoff only occurs when food becomes less available) or due to investment into a third trait. I investigated these dynamics in the sand field cricket (Gryllus firmus), which exhibits a wing polymorphism that mediates a flight-fecundity tradeoff. Short-winged (SW) individuals prioritize egg production (fecundity) over locomotion or dispersal (flight) capability while long-winged (LW) individuals invest in flight musculature at the expense of fecundity. I used a 2x2 factorial design to manipulate food availability (unlimited or limited access to cat food) and investment into antioxidant defenses (repeated injection of the oxidative stressor, paraquat, or a sham injection) for SW and LW females during adulthood. I measured body mass at several points throughout the 5 d study (i.e., the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days of adulthood). At the end of the study (6th day of adulthood), I euthanized each cricket and measured the following traits: body size and condition (femur length and scaled mass index, respectively), and investment into fecundity (dry ovary mass) and flight (status of the dorso-longitudinal muscles). Results from my study will inform the dynamics by which animals balance multiple important, widespread traits (reproduction, locomotion, and self maintenance) in variable environments.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Start Date
29-4-2017 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2017 12:00 PM
“Is the tradeoff between reproduction and locomotion plastic in response to oxidative stress and food limitation in a field cricket?”
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Animals are under selection to optimize several traits associated with fitness, such as reproduction, growth, and self-maintenance. However, a tradeoff among traits often occurs wherein an animal invests into one trait at the expense of investment into another trait. Such two-trait tradeoffs may be fixed, but they may also be plastic in response to the environment (e.g., a tradeoff only occurs when food becomes less available) or due to investment into a third trait. I investigated these dynamics in the sand field cricket (Gryllus firmus), which exhibits a wing polymorphism that mediates a flight-fecundity tradeoff. Short-winged (SW) individuals prioritize egg production (fecundity) over locomotion or dispersal (flight) capability while long-winged (LW) individuals invest in flight musculature at the expense of fecundity. I used a 2x2 factorial design to manipulate food availability (unlimited or limited access to cat food) and investment into antioxidant defenses (repeated injection of the oxidative stressor, paraquat, or a sham injection) for SW and LW females during adulthood. I measured body mass at several points throughout the 5 d study (i.e., the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days of adulthood). At the end of the study (6th day of adulthood), I euthanized each cricket and measured the following traits: body size and condition (femur length and scaled mass index, respectively), and investment into fecundity (dry ovary mass) and flight (status of the dorso-longitudinal muscles). Results from my study will inform the dynamics by which animals balance multiple important, widespread traits (reproduction, locomotion, and self maintenance) in variable environments.