A fast pace-of-life is traded off against a high thermal performance

Abstract

The integration of life-history, behavioural and physiological traits into a 'pace-of-life syndrome' is a powerful concept in understanding trait variation in nature. Yet, mechanisms maintaining variation in 'pace-of-life' are not well understood. We tested whether decreased thermal performance is an energetic cost of a faster pace-of-life. We characterized the pace-of-life of larvae of the damselfly Ischnura elegans from high-latitude and low-latitude regions when reared at 20°C or 24°C in a common-garden experiment, and estimated thermal performance curves for a set of behavioural, physiological and performance traits. Our results confirm a faster pace-of-life (i.e. faster growth and metabolic rate, more active and bold behaviour) in the low-latitude and in warm-reared larvae, and reveal increased maximum performance, Rmax, but not thermal optimum Topt, in low-latitude larvae. Besides a clear pace-of-life syndrome integration at the individual level, larvae also aligned along a 'cold-hot' axis. Importantly, a faster pace-of-life correlated negatively with a high thermal performance (i.e. higher Topt for swimming speed, metabolic rate, activity and boldness), which was consistent across latitudes and rearing temperatures. This tradeoff, potentially driven by the energetically costly maintenance of a fast pace-of-life, may be an alternative mechanism contributing to the maintenance of variation in pace-of-life within populations.