1. Pelagic larval duration predicts extinction risk in a freshwater fish clade
- Author
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Morgan J. Douglas, Crystal L. Ruble, C. Darrin Hulsey, Patrick L. Rakes, John R. Shute, Melissa Petty, and Benjamin P. Keck
- Subjects
Risk ,Time Factors ,Conservation Biology ,Extinction probability ,Fresh Water ,Biology ,Extinction, Biological ,Models, Biological ,Darter ,Species Specificity ,Animals ,Phylogeny ,Extinction ,Fossils ,Ecology ,Fishes ,Pelagic zone ,biology.organism_classification ,Biological Evolution ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Perciformes ,enzymes and coenzymes (carbohydrates) ,Percidae ,Larva ,Freshwater fish ,Biological dispersal ,lipids (amino acids, peptides, and proteins) ,Adaptation ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences - Abstract
Pelagic larval duration (PLD) can influence evolutionary processes ranging from dispersal to extinction in aquatic organisms. Using estimates of PLD obtained from species of North American darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae), we demonstrate that this freshwater fish clade exhibits surprising variation in PLD. Comparative analyses provide some evidence that higher stream gradients favour the evolution of shorter PLD. Additionally, similar to patterns in the marine fossil record in which lower PLD is associated with greater extinction probability, we found a reduced PLD in darter lineages was evolutionarily associated with extinction risk. Understanding the causes and consequences of PLD length could lead to better management and conservation of organisms in our increasingly imperiled aquatic environments.
- Published
- 2013
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