Integrating the Effects of Male Mating Calls and Food Availability on Flight and Reproduction
Poster Number
42
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Zachary Stahlschmidt
Faculty Mentor Department
Biology
Abstract/Artist Statement
In nature, organisms face environmental challenges in their pursuit to reproduce and pass on their genes. However, the allocation of resources towards reproduction can directly conflict with survival, which leads to a tradeoff between survival and reproduction. To navigate this tradeoff, animals can use information about the quality of their environment to make adaptive decisions. For example, a high-quality environment may favor reproductive investment while a low-quality environment favors survival. Yet, resource (e.g., food) availability may alter allocation or investment decisions. For example, resource limitation may favor survival regardless of cues related to environmental quality. Therefore, we used the variable field cricket (Gryllus lineaticeps) to study the roles of male song and resource availability in females’ investment into survival (dispersal or flight capacity) and reproduction (ovary mass). Throughout early adulthood, each female was exposed to one of two acoustic environments (60-70 decibels)—either white noise (signaling a low quality, mate-free environment) or male cricket mating calls (signaling a high-quality environment with abundant mating opportunities). Females were supplied with unlimited or limited food. Flight capacity (investment into flight muscle) and reproductive investment (dry ovary mass) were measured in females to determine whether male song promoted reproduction at the expense of flight capacity, and food consumption was determined to assess whether the tradeoff between flight and reproduction is mediated by resource acquisition or availability. Our preliminary results with food-unlimited females indicate that male mating calls increase reproductive investment and reduce investment into flight/dispersal capacity. Song-induced differential investment was due to increased food take rather than an increased efficiency by which ingested food was converted into ovary mass. In sum, our work will inform the determinants of plasticity in two critical, but often competing, traits—reproduction and survival.
Location
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Start Date
29-4-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2023 1:00 PM
Integrating the Effects of Male Mating Calls and Food Availability on Flight and Reproduction
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
In nature, organisms face environmental challenges in their pursuit to reproduce and pass on their genes. However, the allocation of resources towards reproduction can directly conflict with survival, which leads to a tradeoff between survival and reproduction. To navigate this tradeoff, animals can use information about the quality of their environment to make adaptive decisions. For example, a high-quality environment may favor reproductive investment while a low-quality environment favors survival. Yet, resource (e.g., food) availability may alter allocation or investment decisions. For example, resource limitation may favor survival regardless of cues related to environmental quality. Therefore, we used the variable field cricket (Gryllus lineaticeps) to study the roles of male song and resource availability in females’ investment into survival (dispersal or flight capacity) and reproduction (ovary mass). Throughout early adulthood, each female was exposed to one of two acoustic environments (60-70 decibels)—either white noise (signaling a low quality, mate-free environment) or male cricket mating calls (signaling a high-quality environment with abundant mating opportunities). Females were supplied with unlimited or limited food. Flight capacity (investment into flight muscle) and reproductive investment (dry ovary mass) were measured in females to determine whether male song promoted reproduction at the expense of flight capacity, and food consumption was determined to assess whether the tradeoff between flight and reproduction is mediated by resource acquisition or availability. Our preliminary results with food-unlimited females indicate that male mating calls increase reproductive investment and reduce investment into flight/dispersal capacity. Song-induced differential investment was due to increased food take rather than an increased efficiency by which ingested food was converted into ovary mass. In sum, our work will inform the determinants of plasticity in two critical, but often competing, traits—reproduction and survival.