Fundamental and realized feeding niche breadths of sexual and asexual stick insects.

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_69B6EEF0F15E
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Fundamental and realized feeding niche breadths of sexual and asexual stick insects.
Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society. B Biological sciences
Author(s)
Larose C., Parker D.J., Schwander T.
ISSN
1471-2954 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0962-8452
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
285
Number
1892
Pages
20181805
Language
english
Abstract
The factors contributing to the maintenance of sex over asexuality in natural populations remain unclear. Ecological divergences between sexual and asexual lineages could help to maintain reproductive polymorphisms, at least transiently, but the consequences of asexuality for the evolution of ecological niches are unknown. Here, we investigated how niche breadths change in transitions from sexual reproduction to asexuality. We used host plant ranges as a proxy to compare the realized feeding niche breadths of five independently derived asexual Timema stick insect species and their sexual relatives at both the species and population levels. Asexual species had systematically narrower realized niches than sexual species, though this pattern was not apparent at the population level. To investigate how the narrower realized niches of asexual species arise, we performed feeding experiments to estimate fundamental niche breadths but found no systematic differences between reproductive modes. The narrow realized niches found in asexual species are therefore probably a consequence of biotic interactions such as predation or competition, that constrain realized niche size in asexuals more strongly than in sexuals.
Keywords
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, General Immunology and Microbiology, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, General Environmental Science, General Medicine, Timema stick insects, degree of specialization, herbivorous insect, host plant range, realized versus fundamental niche, sexual versus asexual reproduction
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
05/12/2018 13:47
Last modification date
21/11/2022 9:26
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