Scale-dependent natural variation in larval nutritional reserves in a marine invertebrate : Implications for recruitment and cross-ecosystem coupling
In species with complex life cycles, laboratory studies have shown that variations in the traits of settling larvae can affect post-settlement survival and influence recruitment and benthic- pelagic coupling. However, we still know little about the magnitude and spatial scale of natural trait variation. We studied spatial variation in body size and nutritional reserves (carbon, nitrogen and lipids
