Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2010 Aug 1;13(8):998-1007. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01491.x. Epub 2010 Jun 10.
Compensatory or 'catch-up' growth may be an adaptive mechanism that buffers the growth trajectory of young organisms from deviations caused by reduced food availability. Theory generally assumes that rapid juvenile compensatory growth impacts reproduction only through its positive effects on age and size at maturation, but potential reproductive costs to juvenile compensatory growth remain virtually unexplored. We used a food manipulation experiment to examine the reproductive consequences of compensatory growth in Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Compensatory growth did not affect adult growth rates, litter production rates or investment in offspring size. However, compensatory growth had negative effects on litter size, independent of the effects of female body length, resulting in a 20% decline in offspring production. We discuss potential mechanisms behind this observed cost to reproduction.
补偿性或“追赶性”生长可能是一种适应机制，它可以缓冲由于食物供应减少而导致的幼生物体生长轨迹的偏差。理论通常假设，快速的幼体补偿性生长仅通过其对成熟年龄和大小的积极影响来影响繁殖，但幼体补偿性生长的潜在生殖成本实际上尚未得到探索。我们使用食物操纵实验来研究特立尼达孔雀鱼（Poecilia reticulata）补偿性生长的生殖后果。补偿性生长不会影响成年生长率、产仔率或后代大小的投入。然而，补偿性生长对产仔量有负面影响，这与雌鱼体长的影响无关，导致后代产量下降 20%。我们讨论了这种生殖成本背后的潜在机制。
