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Small-scale phenotypic differentiation along complex stream gradients in a non-native amphipod
Summary
Researchers documented how a non-native freshwater crustacean shows measurable differences in body size and life history traits across short distances within the same stream, suggesting that even recently introduced species can rapidly adapt to local environmental conditions with potential consequences for ecosystem functions like leaf decomposition.
We provide a comprehensive protocol for comparative analyses of intraspecific variation in life history traits in amphipods. Whether the observed phenotypic differentiation over small geographical distances reflects evolutionary divergence or plasticity (or both) remains to be investigated in future studies. Independent of the mechanisms involved, variation in several traits is likely to have consequences for ecosystem functions. For example, leaf-shredding in G. roeselii strongly depends on body size, which varied in dependence of several ecological parameters.
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