PHILIPPI, Tom; Florida International University: The average shrimp versus the average plant: addressing spatial and temporal unpredictability with ephemeral pool crustaceans

Our theoretical understanding of the selective pressure of temporal environmental unpredictability is built upon the reproductive output of the average individual each year. Similarly, analyses of spatial (microsite) variation mostly assume average years. These simplifications are adequate for fixed strategies. However, for adaptive plasticity such as hatching fractions as functions of clutch size (maternal size/condition), the variation as well as the means matter. Further, the covariation between spatial and temporal environmental variation. Ephemeral pool crustaceans have discrete (among-pool) spatial variation, much easier to quantify than the continuous microsite variation for annual plants. In addition, with low rates of between-pool dispersal, the spatio-temporal covariance is easy to quantify, as the vast majority of descendents remain in the same pool. For annual plants, even with local dispersal of centimeters, the covariance may be too complex to empirically quantify. Therefore, ephemeral pool crustaceans may provide insight into the nearly intractable case of annual plants.