Open AccessMetabolic rate, context‐dependent selection, and the competition‐colonization trade‐off
Author(s) -
Pettersen Amanda K.,
Hall Matthew D.,
White Craig R.,
Marshall Dustin J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
evolution letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2056-3744
DOI - 10.1002/evl3.174
Subject(s) - biology , intraspecific competition , competition (biology) , interspecific competition , selection (genetic algorithm) , context (archaeology) , ecology , storage effect , trait , natural selection , variation (astronomy) , evolutionary biology , paleontology , physics , artificial intelligence , computer science , astrophysics , programming language
Metabolism is linked with the pace‐of‐life, co‐varying with survival, growth, and reproduction. Metabolic rates should therefore be under strong selection and, if heritable, become less variable over time. Yet intraspecific variation in metabolic rates is ubiquitous, even after accounting for body mass and temperature. Theory predicts variable selection maintains trait variation, but field estimates of how selection on metabolism varies are rare. We use a model marine invertebrate to estimate selection on metabolic rates in the wild under different competitive environments. Fitness landscapes varied among environments separated by a few centimeters: interspecific competition selected for higher metabolism, and a faster pace‐of‐life, relative to competition‐free environments. Populations experience a mosaic of competitive regimes; we find metabolism mediates a competition‐colonization trade‐off across these regimes. Although high metabolic phenotypes possess greater competitive ability, in the absence of competitors, low metabolic phenotypes are better colonizers. Spatial heterogeneity and the variable selection on metabolic rates that it generates is likely to maintain variation in metabolic rate, despite strong selection in any single environment.