Offspring phenotype can be adaptively altered via maternal non-genetic inheritance. Such ‘maternal effects’ enable females to adjust their per offspring investment in response to variation in the offspring environment, and thus maximise their reproductive success. Consequently they play a pivotal role in population dynamics and the response of species to environmental change. Despite this, little is known about how maternal effects mediate reproductive investment in response to multiple or novel environmental changes, such as those driven by anthropogenic activity. I use the 2-spot ladybird intraguild predation system, where resources and predation risk are highly variable, to explore the role of maternal effects in the response of a native species to an invasive predator, as well as answering outstanding questions about how maternal effects function under complex and antagonistic sets of variables. The results indicate that it is unlikely that maternally mediated changes in egg phenotype will improve the survival of 2-spot ladybird offspring in the face of predation from larvae of the invasive harlequin ladybird. They do, however, demonstrate the importance of studying maternal effects in the context of the multiple environmental factors, which more accurately represent the complex environments in which organisms live and evolve, corroborating recent theoretical predictions. Finally I provide evidence of the multifaceted nature of parental effects in aposematic species and reveal the role that they may play in shaping the variation in defence and warning coloration observed in adult populations.

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of some non-genetic factors on birth weight of Kalahari Red goats. Data on pedigree, breeding and performance records (N=1902) of Kalahari Red goat kids born in the Northern, Southern and Eastern regions of South Africa during the period from 2008 to 2017 were used. Least squares analysis revealed that season of birth, sire age, dam age, sex of kid, breeder, year of birth and Litter size were significant (p<0.05) sources of variation for birth weight in Kalahari Red goats kids. The average birth weights (BW) were 2.45 ± 0.57 kg, 3.33 ± 0.15 kg and 3.14 ± 0.08 kg kg for Eastern, Northern and Southern regions, respectively. Kids born in the Northern region were heavier (3.33 ± 0.158 kg) than those born in the Eastern regions (2.45 ± 0.57 kg). However, region had no significant effect (p>0.05) on birth weight. Breeder effect was significant (p<0.05). Kidding interval was not significant (P>0.05). The average birth weight of male kids was higher than female kids (3.05 ± 0.21 kg: 2.89 ± 0.20 kg), and the difference was significant (P<0.05). The research found a significant effect (p<0.05) of Litter size with the average birth weight of single, twins, triples and quadruplets kids being 3.10 ± 0.19 kg, 2.9 ± 0.20 kg, 2.99 ± 0.20 kg and 2.87 ± 0.36 kg respectively. The kids that were born as single were heavier than those that were born as multiple (twins, triplets and quadruplets). There were four seasons of birth analysed in the study, which were found to be highly significant (P<0.05) on birth weight. Year of birth had significant effect (p<0.05) on birth weight. The kids born in the year 2015 were heavier in BW (3.39 ± 0.23 kg) than those born in the other years, while the kids born in 2016 had the lowest BW (1.91 ± 0.21 kg). Age of dam and sire had a significant effect (p<0.05) on birth weight. It was then concluded that season of birth, sire age, sex of kid, dam age, breeder, year of birth and Litter size significantly influence birth weight of Kalahari Red goat’s kids and, therefore, need to be included in genetic evaluation models. Keywords: Adaptability, Growth potential, Parental effects, Reproduction potential.

Comme ils conduisent à des modifications de sensibilité toxicologique et de traits d'histoire de vie au sein des populations naturelles exposées, les phénomènes d'adaptation à la contamination questionnent la pertinence de l'évaluation du risque environnemental lié au rejet de contaminants chimiques et sont devenus un champ de recherche important à développer en écotoxicologie. Centrés sur l'étude des capacités d'adaptation de l'amphipode d'eau douce Gammarus fossarum, les travaux présentés ici ont eu pour objectif d'avancer dans la compréhension des effets d'une exposition à long terme au cadmium à l'échelle populationnelle et en milieu naturel. En recourant à des méthodologies de biomonitoring par encagement, de culture et d'exposition au laboratoire et de suivi démographique in situ, une démarche couplant études a priori et rétrospectives sur populations naturelles, a permis d'identifier un phénomène d'augmentation de la tolérance et de modification de traits d'histoire de vie chez une population exposée historiquement au cadmium. Des approches de génétique quantitative conduites sur trois populations ont dans un deuxième temps mis en évidence (1) une faible héritabilité de la sensibilité au cadmium au sein de populations naïves ; et (2) un rôle majeur des effets parentaux induits par l'exposition comme mécanisme populationnel soutenant l'évolution de la tolérance chez cette espèce. Enfin, la caractérisation de la variabilité de la sensibilité au cadmium au sein du genre Gammarus (dix-sept populations) et la mise en regard de la divergence de la population tolérante vis-à-vis de cette variabilité, ont permis de discuter des implications de ces processus évolutifs induits par des expositions environnementales pour l'évaluation du risque lié aux substances chimiques. Ainsi, il apparaît nécessaire de prendre en compte les réponses adaptatives induites par la contamination des milieux comme source de variabilité et d'incertitude afin de proposer une évaluation du risque pertinente intégrant pleinement l'ensemble des impacts des contaminations environnementales sur les populations naturelles / Because they lead to changes in toxicological sensitivities and life history traits within field populations, evolutionary processes supporting adaptation to contamination challenge the relevance of environmental risk assessment of chemical contaminants. Hence their study becomes an important developing field of research in ecotoxicology. Focusing on the study of adaptive capacity of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus fossarum, this work aimed to gain insight into the effects of long term exposure to cadmium at the population scale in the field. By means of biomonitoring methodologies (caging), population demographic sampling, culture and exposure in the laboratory we identified a phenomenon of increased tolerance and modification of life history traits in a natural population historically exposed to cadmium. Quantitative genetics experiments conducted on three populations secondly demonstrated (1) a low heritability of sensitivity to cadmium in naïve populations ; and (2) a major role of parental effects induced by exposure as populational mechanism supporting the development of tolerance in this species. Finally, the characterization of the variability of cadmium sensitivity in the genus Gammarus (seventeen populations), and the analysis of the divergence of the tolerant population in comparison to this variability led us to discuss about the implications of these evolutionary processes induced by environmental exposure for risk assessment of chemicals. Thus, from these results it appears necessary to take into account adaptive responses induced by environmental contamination as a source of variability and uncertainty in order to provide a relevant risk assessment fully integrating all the impacts of environmental contamination on natural populations

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) interfere with the physiology of hormone systems. Traditionally, steroidogenic pharmaceuticals have been studied as EDCs however there has been growing evidence that non-steroidogenic pharmaceuticals can alter sex steroid levels and impair reproductive functions in fish. This is of concern as pharmaceuticals are detected in surface waters at the ng L-1 to µg L-1 range. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 10 µg L-1 of the pharmaceuticals carbamazepine and gemfibrozil for 6 weeks. Male-biased sex ratios were observed in the sexually mature offspring after paternal exposure, suggesting that sexual differentiation may be impacted in juveniles. Currently, the ability of pharmaceuticals to interfere with sexual differentiation of parentally exposed offspring is unknown. This thesis examined the gonad histology of juvenile zebrafish to understand how sexual differentiation was affected in the offspring of exposed parents. Paternal, but not maternal, exposure to carbamazepine resulted in a significantly faster sexual differentiation of the gonads and led to a male-biased sex ratio; these effects were not observed when both parents were exposed. Combined paternal and maternal exposure to gemfibrozil resulted in significantly faster sexual differentiation and paternal, but not maternal, exposure to gemfibrozil led to male-biased sex ratios. Interestingly, sex ratios observed in the juveniles did not always reflect those found in the same lineage at sexual maturity, suggesting a sex reversal, including a male to female transition, occurred past the juvenile sexual differentiation period in some fish. This thesis demonstrates that pharmaceuticals have the ability to disrupt sexual differentiation in the F1 offspring of exposed parents and that paternal exposure is most relevant for offspring effects. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Parental exposure to the environmentally-relevant pharmaceuticals carbamazepine or gemfibrozil led to male-biased sex ratios in adult offspring of zebrafish (Danio rerio), a common model organism. The development of the gonads in juveniles was investigated to determine how this process was impacted. Predominately, paternal exposure was found to result in a faster development of the testes and male-biased sex ratios. Interestingly, sex ratios in juveniles did not always reflect those in adults, suggesting a sex reversal may have occurred in adulthood. This study demonstrates the ability of pharmaceuticals to alter gonad development in offspring of exposed parents.