Fitness benefits of size-dependent diet switching in a marine herbivore |
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Authors: | Jane E Williamson Peter D Steinberg |
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Institution: | (1) Marine Ecology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia;(2) School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, and Centre for Marine Bio-innovation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia |
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Abstract: | Although diet is one of the most important parameters affecting the fitness of terrestrial and marine herbivores, host plant
choice and subsequent fitness on that host are not always correlated. This study investigated the effect of diet on fitness
of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurascens, which show an ontogenetic change in host plant use subsequent to recruitment. To test whether fitness on host plant mirrored
host plant choice, small and large individuals were collected from both hosts and fed either host plant (Ecklonia radiata or Delisea pulchra). Small urchins survived better than large individuals. Those fed E. radiata produced fewer test lesions, grew faster and were more fecund than those fed D. pulchra, irrespective of size. This pattern was enhanced when the host plant the urchin previously inhabited was assessed. Our results
show that diet is driving the previously recorded ontogenetic change in host plant use associated with increasing size in
H. purpurascens, where medium-sized individuals switch from D. pulchra to E. radiata. |
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