The Role of Larval Nutritional History In Post-Settlement, Early Juvenile Performance (growth & survivorship) of Benthic Marine Invertebrates

9416590 Emlet这项研究将提供一种结合实验室操作和现场实验的方法，以检查底栖海洋无脊椎动物生命周期中两个最不为人所知的组成部分：幼虫和幼崽之间的生态和进化联系。工作将检查幼虫营养对田间幼鱼表现的影响，这是在招募生物学研究中被忽视的一个特征。目前对招募生物学的研究主要集中在幼虫的供应上，这项研究将表明是否需要考虑幼虫状况及其对幼鱼性能的影响来解释幼虫输入对底栖生物种群的控制。幼虫将在实验室中以接近沿海海洋条件的养殖藻类饲料喂养。通过对一系列具有不同生活方式（不动、移动）和不同营养模式（悬浮食性、食草性、捕食性）的无脊椎动物进行实验，该研究确定了对幼崽性能的影响是否广泛适用。该项目提供了长期假设的（生存）优势的实地测试，更大的能量储存和更大的体型在蜕变中是大多数海洋无脊椎动物生活史进化的口头和定量模型的基本组成部分。采用具有3种不同发育模式的物种（远洋取食的幼虫、远洋不取食的幼虫和底栖被包裹的幼体）加强了这种方法，因为它将有可能确定假设的优势是否适用于所有类型的发育。

9416590 Emlet This research will provide an approach with combined laboratory manipulation and field experimentation for examining ecological and evolutionary connections between the two least understood components of the life cycles of benthic marine invertebrates: larvae and juveniles. Work will examine the effect of larval nutrition on juvenile performance in the field, a feature ignored in the studies of recruitment biology. Studies on recruitment biology are currently focused on larval supply, and this research will show whether there is a need to consider larval condition and its influence on juvenile performance to explain control of benthic populations by larval input. Larvae will be fed in the lab on cultured algal rations at levels approximating coastal oceanic conditions. By experimenting with an array of invertebrates with different modes of life (sessile, mobile) and different trophic modes (suspension feeders, herbivores, predators), the work determines whether effects on juvenile performance apply broadly. This project provide field tests of the long hypothesized (survival) advantages of greater energystores and larger size at metamorphosis which are basic components of most verbal and quantitative models of life history evolution of marine invertebrates. The approach is strengthened by the use of species with 3 different developmental patterns (pelagic feeding larvae, pelagic nonfeeding larvae, and benthic encapsulated juveniles), in that it will be possible to determine if the hypothesized advantages readily apply to all types of development included.