Fitness tradeoffs are a foundation of ecological and evolutionary theory because tradeoffs can explain life history variation, phenotypic plasticity, and the existence of polyphenisms. 

Using a 32-year mark-recapture dataset on lifetime fitness for 1,093 adult Arizona tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum) from a high elevation, polyphenic population, we evaluated the extent to which two life history morphs (aquatic paedomorphs vs terrestrial metamorphs) exhibited fitness tradeoffs in breeding and body condition with respect to environmental variation (e.g., climate) and internal state-based variables (e.g., age).

Both morphs displayed a similar response to higher probabilities of breeding during years of high spring precipitation (i.e., not indicative of a morph-specific fitness tradeoff). There were likely no climate-induced fitness tradeoffs on breeding state for the two life history morphs because precipitation and water availability are vital to amphibian reproduction. 

Body condition displayed a contrasting response for the two morphs that was indicative of a climate-induced fitness tradeoff. While metamorphs exhibited a positive relationship with summer snowpack conditions, paedomorphs were unaffected. Fitness tradeoffs from summer snowpack are likely due to extended hydroperiods in temporary ponds, where metamorphs gain a fitness advantage during the summer growing season by exploiting resources that are unavailable to paeodomorphs. However, paedomorphs appear to have the overwintering fitness advantage because they consistently had higher body condition than metamorphs at the start of the summer growing season. 

Our results reveal that climate and habitat type (metamorphs as predominately terrestrial, paedomorphs as fully aquatic) interact to confer different advantages for each morph. These results advance our current understanding of fitness tradeoffs in this well-studied polyphenic amphibian by integrating climate-based mechanisms. Our conclusions prompt future studies to explore how climatic variation can maintain polyphenisms and promote life history diversity, as well as the implications of climate change for polyphenisms.   

We used a trait by environment modeling approach to determine the effects of natural environmental variation on the different fitness parameters of two life history morphs in a polyphenic population of tiger salamanders. We provide an excel datafile on the lifetime detection histories of individual salamander, an excel datafile on annual climatic conditions for the study population, the associated R code for all analyses, and a READ ME document to explain the different datafiles.