Tamburi Nicolás E, Martín Pablo R
INBIOSUR (UNS-CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, San Juan 670, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
Curr Zool. 2016 Aug;62(4):369-375. doi: 10.1093/cz/zow023. Epub 2016 Mar 19.
A South American freshwater gastropod, the apple snail has become a driver of ecosystemic changes in wetlands and an important rice pest after its introduction to various parts of the world, mainly Asia. The objective of this study was to study the effect of an abrupt interruption in food availability in the short term (up to 4 weeks) and long term (up to 8 months) on survival and reproductive activity. The main results indicate that short-term fasting mainly affects the survival of males, but only when they are raised together with females, probably due to a greater mate-searching activity that increases mortality in the individuals with lower reserves. The number of copulating snails or egg-laying females shows an abrupt drop when fasting and a rapid recovery after the food supply is restored. The strategy of discontinuing reproductive activity prioritizes energy conservation for the survival of the females. Interpopulation variation in resistance to starvation was observed in adults, which can be explained to some extent by the food availability that they experienced in their natural environment. No interpopulational differences in survival were seen in hatchlings. The mean maximum values of survival under starvation were 52.6 days in hatchlings and the 3.3% of adults survive over than 200 days, which may be a relevant trait in dispersal and establishment in new habitats.
苹果螺是一种南美洲淡水腹足纲动物，在被引入世界各地区（主要是亚洲）后，已成为湿地生态系统变化的驱动因素以及水稻的重要害虫。本研究的目的是研究短期（长达4周）和长期（长达8个月）食物供应突然中断对其生存和繁殖活动的影响。主要结果表明，短期禁食主要影响雄性的生存，但仅当它们与雌性一起饲养时才会如此，这可能是由于更大的求偶活动增加了储备较低个体的死亡率。禁食时，正在交配的蜗牛或产卵雌性的数量会急剧下降，食物供应恢复后则迅速恢复。停止繁殖活动的策略优先考虑为雌性的生存保存能量。在成年个体中观察到了种群间对饥饿抵抗力的差异，这在一定程度上可以通过它们在自然环境中所经历的食物供应情况来解释。在幼体中未观察到种群间的生存差异。饥饿条件下幼体生存的平均最大值为52.6天，3.3%的成年个体存活超过200天，这可能是在新栖息地扩散和定居的一个相关特征。
