Publications by authors named "Helen K Downie"
Article Synopsis
- - Ecological competition can cause individuals in a population, like juvenile Atlantic salmon, to share resources or habitats, but the mechanics behind this behavior are not fully understood.
- - Research shows that an individual salmon's energy demand and competitive ability affect its habitat choices, especially when food is scarce; higher metabolic rate fish prefer faster-flowing water in low-food streams.
- - The study highlights that the advantages of having a higher metabolic rate depend on the food context, as these fish grow faster only in nutrient-rich streams; thus, their habitat preferences are influenced by both metabolism and resource availability.
Organisms can modify their surrounding environment, but whether these changes are large enough to feed back and alter their evolutionary trajectories is not well understood, particularly in wild populations. Here we show that nutrient pulses from decomposing Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parents alter selection pressures on their offspring with important consequences for their phenotypic and genetic diversity. We found a strong survival advantage to larger eggs and faster juvenile metabolic rates in streams lacking carcasses but not in streams containing this parental nutrient input.
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