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Metabolism and water loss are not related to environmental heterogeneity in two mygalomorph spiders

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Abstract

Regulation of energy and water balance are primary components of homeostasis in all organisms. But the processes associated with such homeostasis can be costly and affect the fitness of individuals. As a result, individuals from variable environments are expected to invest more in compensatory mechanisms to maintain homeostasis than individuals from stable environments. Grammostola quirogai and Grammostola anthracina are two spiders of the Theraphosidae family that live in rocky-hill habitats in the Pampas ecoregion. Both species inhabit mesic environments with moderate rainy weather but different precipitation variability. G. quirogai only exists in rocky-hill habitats surrounded by prairies, far from oceanic and estuarine coasts. These habitats are exposed to higher and more variable precipitation rates due to a stronger influence of El Niño. In contrast, G. anthracina lives in areas with less heterogeneous precipitation rates, and its populations expand up to the Atlantic coast. In this study, we used these two species to explore the impacts of water deprivation on their metabolic rate and water loss. We did not detect changes in metabolic rate or differences in water loss as a result of a water restriction treatment in any of the species. However, the mean total values of evaporative water loss for our studied species were lower than that of xeric species. These results provide evidence that the total evaporative water loss in tarantulas may not be related to environmental characteristics, as it has been widely reported among insect species.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available in the FigShare repository, doi https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8263745

Abbreviations

TEWL:

Total evaporative water loss

SMR:

Standard metabolic rate

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Acknowledgments

We thank Laura Montes de Oca for help during the animal husbandry, the personnel of Reserva Natura Salus for access to the Park, the Instituto Uruguayo de Metereología (INUMET) for providing data on precipitation and temperature for our sampling sites, and Grisel Cavieres for insightful comments during the experiment and manuscript preparation.

Funding

SCB further thanks PEDECIBA for research funds and Fondecyt N° 11160839.

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Author notes

  1. Sabrina Clavijo-Baquet

    Present address: Sección Etología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ecología y Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo, 11600, Uruguay

    Sabrina Clavijo-Baquet

  2. Laboratorio de Energética y Ecofisiología, Centro Universitario Regional Este, Maldonado, Uruguay

    Sabrina Clavijo-Baquet & Matilde Alfaro

  3. Sección de Entomología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Fernando Pérez-Miles

Authors
  1. Sabrina Clavijo-Baquet
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  2. Matilde Alfaro
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  3. Fernando Pérez-Miles
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Correspondence to Sabrina Clavijo-Baquet.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Communicated by: Paula Roig Boixeda

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Clavijo-Baquet, S., Alfaro, M. & Pérez-Miles, F. Metabolism and water loss are not related to environmental heterogeneity in two mygalomorph spiders. Sci Nat 107, 17 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-1672-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-1672-3

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