Do larger individuals cope with resource fluctuations better? An artificial selection approach.

ABSTRACT: Size determines the rate at which organisms acquire and use resources but it is unclear what size should be favoured under unpredictable resource regimes. Some theories claim smaller organisms can grow faster following a resource pulse, whereas others argue larger species can accumulate more resources and maintain growth for longer periods between resource pulses. Testing these theories has relied on interspecific comparisons, which tend to confound body size with other life-history traits. As a more direct approach, we used 280 generations of artificial selection to evolve a 10-fold difference in mean body size between small- and large-selected phytoplankton lineages of Dunaliella tertiolecta, while controlling for biotic and abiotic variables. We then quantified how body size affe

SUBMITTER: Malerba ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6111162 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature