Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: Summary Chemical analyses of ecologically diverse species ofDrosophilareveal substantial variation among them in their nitrogen and phosphorus contents, determined as a percentage of adult dry mass. AcrossDrosophilaspecies, the nitrogen content of flies is positively correlated with phosphorus content. For both N and P, the concentration in the flies is correlated with that of their breeding sites. The variation in the elemental composition of breeding sites, and therefore of the flies themselves, may affect the ecology and life‐history variation ofDrosophila. The range of variation in N and P contents and the N : P ratio is considerably less amongDrosophilathan among their breeding sites, indicating that there is substantial constancy for elemental composition acrossDrosophilaspecies. The N : P ratio varies somewhat among species, indicating that the nitrogen and phosphorus contents do not change in perfect proportion across species. An important, but unanswered, question concerns the relation between intraspecific homeostasis and interspecific constancy for elemental composition. Three possible mechanisms by which such interspecific constancy is brought about are discussed.
Source: Functional Ecology
Authors: J. Jaenike, T. A. Markow
Institutions: University of Rochester, University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W2129197625