Dataset Information

Variation in the ontogenetic allometry of horn length in bovids along a body mass continuum.

ABSTRACT: Allometric relationships describe the proportional covariation between morphological, physiological, or life-history traits and the size of the organisms. Evolutionary allometries estimated among species are expected to result from species differences in ontogenetic allometry, but it remains uncertain whether ontogenetic allometric parameters and particularly the ontogenetic slope can evolve. In bovids, the nonlinear evolutionary allometry between horn length and body mass in males suggests systematic changes in ontogenetic allometry with increasing species body mass. To test this hypothesis, we estimated ontogenetic allometry between horn length and body mass in males and females of 19 bovid species ranging from ca. 5 to 700 kg. Ontogenetic allometry changed systematically with species body mass from steep ontogenetic allometries over a short period of horn growth in small species to shallow allometry with the growth period of horns matching the period of body mass increase in the largest species. Intermediate species displayed steep allometry over long period of horn growth. Females tended to display shallower ontogenetic allometry with longer horn growth compared to males, but these differences were weak and highly variable. These findings show that ontogenetic allometric slope evolved across species possibly as a response to size-related changes in the selection pressures acting on horn length and body mass.

SUBMITTER: Tidiere M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7244813 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Variation in the ontogenetic allometry of horn length in bovids along a body mass continuum.

Tidière Morgane M Gaillard Jean-Michel JM Garel Mathieu M Lemaître Jean-François JF Toïgo Carole C Pélabon Christophe C

Ecology and evolution 20200327 9

Allometric relationships describe the proportional covariation between morphological, physiological, or life-history traits and the size of the organisms. Evolutionary allometries estimated among species are expected to result from species differences in ontogenetic allometry, but it remains uncertain whether ontogenetic allometric parameters and particularly the ontogenetic slope can evolve. In bovids, the nonlinear evolutionary allometry between horn length and body mass in males suggests syst ...[more]

PMID: 32489634

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Project description:Plant species aboveground allometry can be viewed as a functional trait that reflects the evolutionary trade-off between above- and belowground resources. In forest trees, allometry is related to productivity and resilience in different environments, and it is tightly connected with a compromise between efficiency-safety and competitive ability. A better understanding on how this trait varies within and across species is critical to determine the potential of a species/population to perform along environmental gradients. We followed a hierarchical framework to assess tree height-diameter allometry variation within and across four common European Pinus species. Tree height-diameter allometry variation was a function of solely genetic components -approximated by either population effects or clinal geographic responses of the population's site of origin- and differential genetic plastic responses -approximated by the interaction between populations and two climatic variables of the growing sites (temperature and precipitation)-. Our results suggest that, at the species level, climate of the growing sites set the tree height-diameter allometry of xeric and mesic species (Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster and P. nigra) apart from the boreal species (P. sylvestris), suggesting a weak signal of their phylogenies in the tree height-diameter allometry variation. Moreover, accounting for interpopulation variability within species for the four pine species aided to: (1) detect genetic differences among populations in allometry variation, which in P. nigra and P. pinaster were linked to gene pools -genetic diversity measurements-; (2) reveal the presence of differential genetic variation in plastic responses along two climatic gradients in tree allometry variation. In P. sylvestris and P. nigra, genetic variation was the result of adaptive patterns to climate, while in P. pinaster and P. halepensis, this signal was either weaker or absent, respectively; and (3) detect local adaptation in the exponent of the tree height-diameter allometry relationship in two of the four species (P. sylvestris and P. nigra), as it was a function of populations' latitude and altitude variables. Our findings suggest that the four species have been subjected to different historical and climatic constraints that might have driven their aboveground allometry and promoted different life strategies.

Dataset Information

Variation in the ontogenetic allometry of horn length in bovids along a body mass continuum.

Publications

Variation in the ontogenetic allometry of horn length in bovids along a body mass continuum.

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