Meeting Abstract

S9.1-2  Tuesday, Jan. 7 08:10  Stress, nutrient allocation and multivariate life history: from lab to field BOGGS, C.L.*; NIITEPOLD, K.; Univ. of South Carolina; Univ. of South Carolina boggscl@mailbox.sc.edu

Both life history responses to nutritional stress and the mechanisms underlying those responses have been subject to intense study in recent years, in the context of global change and of ageing. Most studies have been done under controlled laboratory conditions, providing only limited understanding of how nutritional stress affects nutrient allocation, life history and population dynamics in the wild. Here we use a lepidopteran study system, Speyeria mormonia, to test the relationship between lab results and what happens under nutritional stress in the field. We first summarize results from work testing different commonly used laboratory adult diets, with different micronutrients. We then review the effects of adult nutritional stress on life history traits in the lab, yielding predictions for effects in the field. We show that several of these predictions are indeed upheld under nectar stress in the wild. This synthesis demonstrates that laboratory studies can indeed provide useful insight into life history and population dynamics in the field.