Changes in the Body Size of Carabid Beetles Along Elevational Gradients: A Multispecies Study of Between- and Within-Population Variation

Baranovská, Eliška; Tajovský, Karel; Knapp, Michal

doi:10.1093/ee/nvz036

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…2016; Baranovská et al. 2019). Evolutionary mechanism leading to the sexual size dimorphism in Carabidae is likely to be size‐dependent insemination success, as is the case with C. japonicus .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of body size divergence on male mating tactics in the ground beetle Carabus japonicus

Okuzaki

2021

Evolution

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Animal body size is involved in reproduction in various ways. Carabus japonicus exhibits considerable variation in adult body size across geographical locations depending on the larval environment. To investigate the effects of body size divergence on male mating traits, spermatophore deposition and weight, copulation duration, and post‐copulatory mounting were observed using male‐female pairs from C. japonicus populations with different body sizes. Then, variables with high predictive power on the mating traits were identified from individual characteristics. When the male was slightly smaller than his mate, spermatophore deposition likely succeeded, suggesting that mechanical size‐assortative insemination determined male body size. Although male reproductive organ size was positively correlated with male body size, spermatophore weight was not significantly affected by male body size, whereas copulation duration decreased with increasing male body size. Enlarged males, with a high capacity for spermatophore production, could increase paternity by decreasing copulation duration and increasing mating frequency. Such shifts in mating tactics would alter selection pressures of intra‐ and intersexual interactions (e.g., sperm competition and sexual conflict). Genital dimensions also affected mating traits other than copulatory duration. Thus, ecological heterogeneity has the potential to lead to divergences in sexual traits, such as genital morphology, through body size divergence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such sexual size dimorphism is common in carabid species (Sota et al 2000;Sukhodolskaya et al 2016;Baranovská et al 2019). Evolutionary mechanism leading to the sexual size dimorphism in Carabidae is likely to be size-dependent insemination success, as is the case with C. japonicus.…”

Section: Size-assortative Inseminationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of body size divergence on male mating tactics in the ground beetle Carabus japonicus

Okuzaki

2021

Evolution

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“…There is evidence that body size increases with elevation (Cvetkovska‐Gjorgjievska et al, ), but again this relationship is not apparently consistent, others having found weak (Pizzolotto, Albertini, Gobbi, & Brandmayr, ), variable (Maveety & Browne, ) or no (Homburg et al, ) association between body size and elevation. In addition, responses of body size to elevational gradients may also vary among populations of the same species (Baranovskà, Tajovský, & Knapp, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait‐modulated decline of carabid beetle occurrence along elevational gradients across the European Alps

Chamberlain

Gobbi

Negro

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: To assess how species traits modulate the responses of carabids to elevational gradients, and how consistent these relationships are across different Alpine regions.Location: Italian Alps. Taxon: Coleoptera, Carabidae (ground beetles).Methods: Carabid communities were sampled using pitfall traps along elevational gradients (697-2,840 m) in 416 study sites comprising a range of habitat types. The probability of carabid occurrence was modelled in relation to elevation and its interaction with two key traits, body size and wing development, using a mixed-modelling framework. The consistency of these associations was then assessed across three geographically separated regions. Results:Carabid occurrence declined with increasing elevation, although this relationship was modulated by both body size and wing development. Smaller species were less likely to occur than larger-bodied species at lower elevations. There was a steep decline in occurrence of larger species from low to high elevation, but a slight increase in smaller species, when considering all regions combined. All wing development types declined with elevation, most notably for brachypterous (reduced wings) species. However, these patterns also varied regionally, especially for wing development, indicating that trait-elevation interactions are not geographically consistent.Habitat could not explain the differences between regions for body size, but was likely an important driver of regional differences in the role of wing development on carabid occurrence. Main conclusions:Species traits are important in explaining the distribution of carabids along elevational gradients in mountains, and they may help to identify the species that are the most vulnerable, and the most resilient, to future environmental change. Increased probability of occurrence of smaller species at higher elevations suggests that they may be particularly vulnerable to environmental change in the future. However, the difference in responses to elevation between regions has important implications for modelling species distributions, as it suggests low model transferability, that is, a trait-based model derived from one region cannot necessarily be used to project relative elevational shifts in a wider area. | 1031 CHAMBERLAIN Et AL.

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“…Another sensitive aspect is determining which sizes are used when applying size-weight models. There are intraspecific differences in size between different regions and habitats (Szyszko et al, 1996;Baranovská and Knapp, 2014;Baranovská et al, 2019). Individual size usually also varies between females and males of the same species (Riecken and Raths, 1996;Knapp, 2012;Baranovská and Knapp, 2014), while both the magnitude of this sexual dimorphism and the abundance ratio of male and female beetles can vary spatially -within the same species and population (Yarwood et al, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to estimate carabid biomass?—an evaluation of size-weight models for ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and perspectives for further improvement

Weiss

Linde

2022

J Insect Conserv

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Biomass is an important metric for monitoring carabid populations and serves as an ecological indicator. Models that predict carabid weight based on body size represent a simple and straightforward method to estimate biomass and are therefore commonly used. However, such models are rarely evaluated against independent validation data. In this study, we evaluated the two widely used size-weight models by Szyszko (1983) and Booij et al. (1994) drawing on previously published independent data. Additionally, we developed and tested four new models to also evaluate the potential effect of taxonomic parameters; and compared model predictions with actual measurements of biomass using relative deviation graphs and observed versus predicted from regression. We show that the two models by Szyszko (1983) and Booij et al. (1994) contain systematic bias towards larger and smaller carabids, respectively, suggesting restricted applicability of such models. Additional taxonomic parameters improved weight predictions, indicating one possible solution to the issue of restricted applicability. We discuss further relevant limitations of size-weight models and their application and recommend a combined use of the models of Szyszko (1983) and Booij et al. (1994) for carabids ≥ 11.8 mm and < 11.8 mm, respectively.Implications for insect conservation: Size-weight models are a suitable and simple method to estimate the biomass of carabids and have great potential to be used in monitoring schemes, the investigation of long-term trends and ecological studies. It is, however, essential that researchers pay special attention to potential restrictions in their applicability and methodological limitations.

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Changes in the Body Size of Carabid Beetles Along Elevational Gradients: A Multispecies Study of Between- and Within-Population Variation

Cited by 8 publications

References 58 publications

Effects of body size divergence on male mating tactics in the ground beetle Carabus japonicus

Effects of body size divergence on male mating tactics in the ground beetle Carabus japonicus

Trait‐modulated decline of carabid beetle occurrence along elevational gradients across the European Alps

How to estimate carabid biomass?—an evaluation of size-weight models for ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and perspectives for further improvement

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