Plasticity, both within and across generations, can shape sexual traits involved in mate choice and reproductive success, and thus direct measures of fitness. Especially, transgenerational plasticity (TGP), where parental environment influences offspring plasticity in future environments, could compensate for otherwise negative effects of environmental change on offspring sexual traits. We conducted a mate choice experiment using stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) with different thermal histories (ambient 17 degrees C or elevated 21 degrees C) within and across generations under simulated ocean warming using outdoor mesocosms. Parentage analysis of egg clutches revealed that maternal developmental temperature and reproductive (mesocosm) environment affected egg size, with females that developed at 17 degrees C laying smaller eggs in 21 degrees C mesocosms, likely owing to metabolic costs at elevated temperature. Paternal developmental temperature interacted with the reproductive environment to influence mating success, particularly under simulated ocean warming, with males that developed at 21 degrees C showing lower overall mating success compared with 17 degrees C males, but higher mating success in 21 degrees C mesocosms. Furthermore, mating success of males was influenced by the interaction between F1 developmental temperature and F0 parent acclimation temperature, demonstrating the potential role of both TGP and within-generation plasticity in shaping traits involved in sexual selection and mate choice, potentially facilitating rapid responses to environmental change.
This article is part of the theme issue 'The role of plasticity in phenotypic adaptation to rapid environmental change'.
1.Alfred Wegener Inst, Coastal Ecol Sect, Wadden Sea Stn Sylt, Helmholtz Zentrum Polar & Meeresforsch, Hafenstr 43, D-25992 List Auf Sylt, Germany 2.Univ Vienna, Dept Theoret Biol, Althanstr 14, Vienna, Austria 3.Univ Vienna, Univ Vet Med Vienna, Messerli Res Inst, Med Univ Vienna, Vet Pl 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria 4.Nat Hist Museum Vienna, Zool Dept 1, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Recommended Citation:
Fuxjaeger, Lukas,Wanzenboeck, Sylvia,Ringler, Eva,et al. Within-generation and transgenerational plasticity of mate choice in oceanic stickleback under climate change[J]. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES,2019-01-01,374(1768)