Life-History Evolution in Guppy Species
Summary
Life-history evolution in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) exemplifies how environmental pressures shape reproductive strategies, growth trajectories and feeding adaptations within a single species. Across Trinidadian stream systems, variation in predator presence, resource availability and community composition drives rapid shifts in traits such as age and size at maturity, brood size and offspring provisioning. High-predation sites select for early maturation, smaller but more frequent broods and streamlined morphologies for predator evasion, whereas low-predation environments favour delayed maturation, larger offspring and enhanced competitive ability. Seasonal fluctuations in food supply further modulate these responses, often eliciting phenotypic plasticity that complements genetic adaptation. Together, these dynamics illustrate eco-evolutionary feedbacks whereby guppy populations both respond to and reshape ecosystem structure through altered grazing rates and nutrient cycling.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent studies have shown that population variation in predation regimes drives divergent trophic niches and life-history strategies in Trinidadian guppies. Research indicates that guppies from low-predation sites exhibit higher trophic positions, increased investment in offspring size and altered resource assimilation patterns compared with high-predation populations. These findings underscore the rapid adaptive shifts in reproductive output, growth rates and feeding efficiency that accompany changes in ecological context.
Life-History Evolution in Guppy Species publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in life-history evolution in guppy species across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Life-history traits: Characteristics related to growth, reproduction and survival across an organism’s lifespan.
Predation regime: The level and type of predator pressure experienced by a population.
Trophic niche: The position and role of an organism in a food web, including diet and feeding behaviour.
Ontogenetic niche shift: Changes in resource use or habitat preference occurring as an organism grows.
Phenotypic plasticity: The ability of an organism to alter its physiology or morphology in response to environmental variation.
References
- Does the evolution of ontogenetic niche shifts favour species coexistence? An empirical test in Trinidadian streams. Journal of Animal Ecology (2023).
- Contrasting Population and Diet Influences on Gut Length of an Omnivorous Tropical Fish, the Trinidadian Guppy (Poecilia reticulata). PLOS ONE (2015).
- Eco-Evolutionary Trophic Dynamics: Loss of Top Predators Drives Trophic Evolution and Ecology of Prey. PLOS ONE (2011).
- Population variation in the trophic niche of the Trinidadian guppy from different predation regimes. Scientific Reports (2017).
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