Effects of a patchy food environment across life history stages

• We tested for a legacy effect of a variable larval diet in Crepidula fornicata.
• No effect of a variable diet during the larval stage or after metamorphosis
• Differences due to average food concentration were removed by metamorphosis.
• Results show resilience to variable food availability and lack of a larval legacy.

Many animals experience periods of feast or famine, which can have major consequences for growth, survival, and reproductive fitness. For animals with complex life histories, the question remains whether a major ontogenetic transition, such as metamorphosis, removes the legacy of early diet variability, or if early stressors persist into later stages. This study examined the effect of constant versus variable food availability and average food concentration during the larval stage on the performance of the marine gastropod Crepidula fornicata (L.) before and after metamorphosis. There was no detectable effect of variable food availability on larval growth, energy stores, survival, and metamorphic competence, or juvenile growth rate and survival. Instead, the average amount of food available during the larval period had the greatest impact on larval size and metamorphic competence. Surprisingly, there were no impacts of larval diet on growth or survival during the juvenile stage. Differences that originated during the larval stage were removed post-metamorphosis. These results suggest that some organisms may be resilient to variations in food availability and that not all early life experiences produce legacy effects. Heterogeneous environments, including variable food availability, should favor flexibility in the timing of ontogenetic transitions that allow individuals to be robust in later life stages.

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