Consumer trait responses track change in resource supply along replicated thermal gradients.

ABSTRACT: Rising temperatures may alter consumer diets through increased metabolic demand and altered resource availability. However, current theories assessing dietary shifts with warming do not account for a change in resource availability. It is unknown whether consumers will increase consumption rates or consume different resources to meet increased energy requirements and whether the dietary change will lead to associated variation in morphology and nutrient utilization. Here, we used populations of Gambusia affinis across parallel thermal gradients in New Zealand (NZ) and California (CA) to understand the influence of temperature on diets, morphology and stoichiometric phenotypes. Our results show that with increasing temperature in NZ, mosquitofish consumed more plant material, whereas

SUBMITTER: Moffett ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8634111 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature