Authors
Jennifer S. Lord, Robert Leyland, Lee R. Haines, Antoine M. G. Barreaux, Michael B. Bonsall, Stephen J. Torr, Sinead English
Publication date
2021/7/15
Journal
Ecology Letters
Issue
24
Pages
2113– 2122
Publisher
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13839
Description
Many organisms show signs of deterioration with age in terms of survival and reproduction. We tested whether intraspecific variation in such senescence patterns can be driven by resource availability or reproductive history. We did this by manipulating nutritional stress and age at first reproduction and measuring age‐dependent reproductive output in tsetse (Glossina morsitans morsitans), a viviparous fly with high maternal allocation. Across all treatments, offspring weight followed a bell‐shaped curve with maternal age. Nutritionally stressed females had a higher probability of abortion and produced offspring with lower starvation tolerance. There was no evidence of an increased rate of reproductive senescence in nutritionally stressed females, or a reduced rate due to delayed mating, as measured by patterns of abortion, offspring weight or offspring starvation tolerance. Therefore, although we found evidence of …
Total citations
202020212022202320241592
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