Marine Evolutionary Ecology Group, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Marine Evolutionary Ecology Group, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
J Exp Biol. 2020 Sep 4;223(Pt 17):jeb224824. doi: 10.1242/jeb.224824.
Within species, individuals of the same size can vary substantially in their metabolic rate. One source of variation in metabolism is conspecific density - individuals in denser populations may have lower metabolism than those in sparser populations. However, the mechanisms through which conspecifics drive metabolic suppression remain unclear. Although food competition is a potential driver, other density-mediated factors could act independently or in combination to drive metabolic suppression, but these drivers have rarely been investigated. We used sessile marine invertebrates to test how food availability interacts with oxygen availability, water flow and chemical cues to affect metabolism. We show that conspecific chemical cues induce metabolic suppression independently of food and this metabolic reduction is associated with the downregulation of physiological processes rather than feeding activity. Conspecific cues should be considered when predicting metabolic variation and competitive outcomes as they are an important, but underexplored, source of variation in metabolic traits.
在同一物种内，相同大小的个体在代谢率上可能有很大的差异。代谢变化的一个来源是同种密度——在密度较高的种群中的个体的代谢率可能比在密度较低的种群中的个体低。然而，同种个体驱动代谢抑制的机制仍不清楚。虽然食物竞争是一个潜在的驱动因素，但其他密度介导的因素可能独立或共同作用来驱动代谢抑制，但这些驱动因素很少被研究。我们使用固着海洋无脊椎动物来测试食物供应如何与氧气供应、水流和化学信号相互作用，以影响代谢。我们表明，同种化学信号独立于食物诱导代谢抑制，这种代谢减少与生理过程的下调有关，而不是与摄食活动有关。在预测代谢变化和竞争结果时，应该考虑同种信号，因为它们是代谢特征变化的一个重要但尚未充分探索的来源。
