Growth and survivorship in juvenile woodlice: is birth mass important?

Growth and survivorship of individually reared offspring of the woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidae) Porcellionides pruinosus (Brandt) and Aphiloscia vilis (Budde-Lund) were measured under laboratory conditions. These measures of offspring fitness were compared to birth mass, which is a realistic measure o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecography (Copenhagen) 1997-04, Vol.20 (2), p.132-136
Main Author: Dangerfield, J. Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Average linear density
Biological and medical sciences
Ecological competition
Ecological life histories
Fecundity
Female animals
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Isopoda
Minors
Mortality
Oniscidae
Ova
Porcellionides pruinosus
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Reproduction
Young animals
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Summary:Growth and survivorship of individually reared offspring of the woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidae) Porcellionides pruinosus (Brandt) and Aphiloscia vilis (Budde-Lund) were measured under laboratory conditions. These measures of offspring fitness were compared to birth mass, which is a realistic measure of parental investment in offspring for these species, to test a key assumption of life history theory that an increase in resource allocation to offspring will increase offspring fitness. In both species birth mass had no significant effect on survivorship to 60 days and in P. pruinosus birth mass did not correlate with mass at 15, 30 or 45 days after birth. In A. vilis larger young at birth had a slight growth advantage to 15 days but not thereafter. There appears to be little effect of birth mass on offspring fitness despite a considerable range in birth mass within broods. In these species high variance in juvenile growth may spread subsequent reproductive effort and avoid risks of total reproductive failure.
ISSN:0906-7590
1600-0587
DOI:10.1111/j.1600-0587.1997.tb00355.x