Effects of Diet Restriction and Diet Complexity on Life History Strategies in Side-Blotched Lizards (Uta stansburiana)

ABSTRACT Organisms must balance energy invested into self‐maintenance, reproduction, and somatic growth over their lifetime. In this study, the effects of diet restriction and diet complexity on side‐blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) were analyzed. Thirty male lizards, housed in the laboratory, were fed either an ad libitum or a restricted diet for 18 days (phase 1). Individuals from both treatments were then assigned to a diet of the same quantity of food that was either simple (only crickets) or complex (crickets, cockroaches, waxworms, and mealworms) for 35 days (phase 2). We evaluated (1) how diet restriction affected life history strategies and (2) how diet complexity affected recovery from diet restriction as measured at the end of phase 2 by body mass, snout–vent length, calculated body condition score, wound healing, tail regrowth, bacterial killing ability, oxidative stress, and plasma testosterone and corticosterone concentrations. Lizards without diet restriction allocated more energy to self‐maintenance (i.e., maintaining higher body condition scores, healing wounds more quickly) than lizards with diet restriction. Lizards with diet restriction had higher plasma testosterone concentrations and larger increases in snout–vent lengths than those fed ad libitum, which may reflect allocations toward reproduction and somatic growth. A complex diet resulted in better body condition and faster tail regrowth than a simple diet, suggesting that a complex diet enhanced recovery from diet restriction, although long‐term life history choices remained unaltered. Finally, lizards on a complex diet consumed substantially less food while maintaining higher body condition, suggesting that key nutrients may be lacking from a simple diet. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT Long‐term diet restriction resulted in greater allocation toward reproduction relative to self‐maintenance in a short‐lived lizard. Increased diet complexity enhanced recovery from prior diet restriction and resulted in better body condition.