The effect of size at birth, maturation threshold and genetic differences on the life-history of Daphnia magna.

Life-history traits of 101 clones from two populations of Daphnia magna were measured under controlled environmental conditions in the laboratory. Some individuals had four juvenile instars, others had five. This depended on their length at birth and on the population they came from. Females in the group with five juvenile instars were smaller at birth but larger and older at maturity than those with four juvenile instars. Within groups of females with equal numbers of preadult instars (instar groups) age and size at maturity increased with size at birth. This relationship differed significantly among instar groups for both age and size at maturity. Significant differences in age and size at maturity between two populations became non-significant when size at birth was used as a covariable in AN-COVA. Within populations, size at birth depended on the clone and on the parity of the clutch. First-clutch offspring were considerably smaller than those from later clutches. The results suggest that variability in life-history traits is common within and between clones, but that most of this variation can be accounted for by size at birth and the number of pre-adult instars.