Faster Development Covaries with Higher DNA Damage in Grasshoppers (Chorthippus albomarginatus) from Chernobyl.

In Chernobyl, chronic exposure to radioactive contaminants has a variety of deleterious effects on exposed organisms, including genetic damage and mutation accumulation. However, the potential for such effects to be transmitted to the next generation is poorly understood. We captured lesser marsh grasshoppers (Chorthippus albomarginatus) in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone from sites varying in levels of environmental radiation by more than three orders of magnitude. We then raised their offspring in a common garden experiment in order to assess the effects of parental exposure to radiation on offspring development and DNA damage. Offspring that reached maturity at a younger age had higher levels of DNA damage. Contrary to our hypothesis, parental exposure to radioactive contamination did not affect DNA damage in their offspring possibly because of intervening adaptation or parental compensatory mechanisms. Our results suggest a trade-off between developmental rate and resistance to DNA damage, whereby offspring developing at faster rates do so at the cost of damaging their DNA. This result is consistent with and extends findings in other species, suggesting that faster growth rates cause increased oxidative damage and stress. We propose that growth rates are subject to stabilizing selection balancing the benefits of fast development and the competing need of buffering its damaging effects to macromolecules and tissues.

Using multiscale spatial models to assess potential surrogate habitat for an imperiled reptile.

UNLABELLED: In evaluating conservation and management options for species, practitioners might consider surrogate habitats at multiple scales when estimating available habitat or modeling species' potential distributions based on suitable habitats, especially when native environments are rare. Species' dependence on surrogates likely increases as optimal habitat is degraded and lost due to anthropogenic landscape change, and thus surrogate habitats may be vital for an imperiled species' survival in highly modified landscapes. We used spatial habitat models to examine a potential surrogate habitat for an imperiled ambush predator (eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus; EDB) at two scales. The EDB is an apex predator indigenous to imperiled longleaf pine ecosystems (Pinus palustris) of the southeastern United States. Loss of native open-canopy pine savannas and woodlands has been suggested as the principal cause of the species' extensive decline. We examined EDB habitat selection in the Coastal Plain tidewater region to evaluate the role of marsh as a potential surrogate habitat and to further quantify the species' habitat requirements at two scales: home range (HR) and within the home range (WHR). We studied EDBs using radiotelemetry and employed an information-theoretic approach and logistic regression to model habitat selection as use vs. AVAILABILITY: We failed to detect a positive association with marsh as a surrogate habitat at the HR scale; rather, EDBs exhibited significantly negative associations with all landscape patches except pine savanna. Within home range selection was characterized by a negative association with forest and a positive association with ground cover, which suggests that EDBs may use surrogate habitats of similar structure, including marsh, within their home ranges. While our HR analysis did not support tidal marsh as a surrogate habitat, marsh may still provide resources for EDBs at smaller scales.