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Resolving within- and between-population variation in feeding ecology with a biomechanical model

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Abstract

Studies of phenotypic plasticity have emphasized the effect of the environment on the phenotype, but plasticity can also be used as a tool to study the functional significance of key traits. By inducing variation in phenotypes and testing quantitative models that predict performance based on biological mechanisms, we can develop functionally general models of performance. Pumpkinseed sunfish from lakes with high snail availability have large levator posterior muscles (which are used to crush snail shells), whereas fish from lakes with few snails have relatively small muscles. Here we: (1) quantify differences in the feeding ability of an ontogenetic series of pumpkinseed from two populations; and (2) evaluate whether a biomechanical model can resolve the observed ontogenetic and between-population variation in feeding ecology. Mass, but not length, of the levator posterior muscle in fish from Three Lakes (a lake rich in snails) was greater than for comparably sized fish from Wintergreen Lake (a lake with few snails). Handling times were shorter, crushing strengths were 71% greater, and foraging rate (snail tissue mass consumed per time) and the fraction of thick-shelled snails in the diet were approximately 100% greater for fish from Three Lakes compared to comparably sized fish from Wintergreen. These between-lake differences were not significant after adjusting for variation in pharyngeal morphology, suggesting that the biomechanical model of snail crushing resolved observed ontogenetic and population-level variation in the feeding ecology of pumpkinseed.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate useful discussions with Gary Mittelbach and Peter Wainwright as well as the comments of two anonymous reviewers. We also thank Peter Wainwright and Bart Richards for measurements of levator posterior mass and fiber length, and Colette St. Mary for reading a previous draft. This research was supported by an REU supplement from the Ecology Program of NSF, and is contribution no. 1141 of the Kellogg Biological Station. All aspects of this study were conducted in compliance with the laws governing Hickory Corners, Michigan and other locales in which the authors conducted their work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-8525, USA

    Craig W. Osenberg

  2. Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Casey J F. Huckins

  3. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, 49060, USA

    Anthony Kaltenberg & Ari Martinez

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  1. Craig W. Osenberg
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  2. Casey J F. Huckins
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  3. Anthony Kaltenberg
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  4. Ari Martinez
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Correspondence to Craig W. Osenberg.

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Osenberg, C.W., Huckins, C.J.F., Kaltenberg, A. et al. Resolving within- and between-population variation in feeding ecology with a biomechanical model. Oecologia 141, 57–65 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1650-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1650-z

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