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Reproduction and survival in Melanoplus sanguinipes (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in response to resource availability and population density: the role of exploitative competition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

David H. Branson
David H. Branson
Affiliation:
Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, United States of America
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Abstract

The relative importance of exploitative competition for resources on grasshopper reproductive allocation has not been fully examined. Given the large fluctuations in grasshopper densities that periodically occur in western North America, an increased understanding of how grasshopper survival and reproduction vary in response to intraspecific densities and per capita resource availability is important. I examined if exploitative resource competition could explain variation in reproductive allocation in Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius) in response to resource availability and grasshopper population density. I also examined whether individual differences in competitive ability resulted in increased variance in egg production with low per capita resource availability. As expected with exploitative resource competition, per capita resource availability explained a significant amount of the variation in all reproductive characteristics examined. There was no effect of per capita resource availability on survival. Residuals of the regressions of egg production and vitellogenesis versus per capita resource availability did not differ for resource or density treatments, indicating that exploitative competition for resources played a more important role than interference competition in determining reproductive allocation in M. sanguinipes. Individual differences were evident, as variation around the mean of egg production increased with resource limitation. Exploitative competition for resources was important in determining both individual and population-level reproductive responses of grasshoppers to resource availability.

Résumé

L'influence relative de la compétition d'exploitation pour les ressources sur le budget de la reproduction n'a jamais été examinée en détail. Étant donné les fluctuations importantes de la densité des criquets migrateurs qui se produisent périodiquement dans l'ouest de l'Amérique du Nord, il est devenu nécessaire de mieux comprendre comment la survie et la reproduction varient en fonction des densités intraspécifiques et de la disponibilité des ressources per capita. J'ai cherché à déterminer si la compétition d'exploitation pour les ressources peut expliquer la variation dans le budget de la reproduction chez Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fabricius) en fonction de la disponibilité des ressources et de la densité de la population de criquets. J'ai examiné aussi si les différences individuelles de la capacité de compétition entraînent une augmentation de la variance dans la production d'oeufs lorsque la disponibilité des ressources per capita est faible. Comme on pouvait s'y attendre avec la compétition d'exploitation, la disponibilité des ressources per capita explique une partie importante de la variation de toutes les caractéristiques de la reproduction. La disponibilité des ressources per capita est sans effet sur la survie. Les résidus des régressions de la production d'oeufs et de la vitellogenèse en fonction de la disponibilité des ressources per capita ne diffèrent pas aux divers niveaux des ressources ou de la densité, ce qui indique que la compétition d'exploitation joue un plus grand rôle que la compétition d'interférence dans la détermination du budget de la reproduction chez M. sanguinipes. Il y a des différences individuelles importantes: en effet, plus les ressources sont limitées, plus la variation autour de la moyenne de la production d'oeufs est grande. La compétition d'exploitation pour les ressources joue un rôle important dans la détermination des stratégies reproductives en fonction de la disponibilité des ressources chez les criquets migrateurs, tant à l'échelle de l'individu qu'à celle de la population.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 135 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 415 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2003

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