PODOLSKY, R.D.*; MORAN, A.L.; College of Charleston, Grice Marine Laboratory; Clemson University: Functional links and carryover effects across life cycles

Life cycles are composed of stages that can vary dramatically in size, form, habitat, and functional attributes. Within-life-cycle functional variation is fundamental to ecological and evolutionary processes because the nature and strength of interactions and selection pressures can change dramatically across stages. Although major life-history transitions like metamorphosis can functionally decouple life cycle stages, recent evidence from the marine literature indicates that experience at one stage can strongly influence performance and the outcome of selection at others. Much of what is known about performance at early stages and functional links among stages comes from studies in the laboratory, in part because early stages of marine organisms are typically small, dispersing, and impractical for in situ tests of performance. As a result, relatively little is understood about performance capacities or selection on functional traits under natural conditions. In this symposium we draw together recent and ongoing work on processes at discrete life-history stages–gametes, embryos, larvae, juveniles, and adults–that emphasizes functional connections among stages. Our goal is to highlight research that has been innovative in (1) surmounting the challenges of translating laboratory measures of performance into a field context, and (2) emphasizing how processes at one life-history stage alter performance and selection at others. We begin by clarifying terms and offering a conceptual framework for understanding under what conditions the consequences of experience at one stage might be expected to carry over to–or be compensated by–experience at subsequent stages.