The role of calcium and predation on plate morph evolution in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

Carl Smith, Rowena Spence, Iain Barber, Mirosław Przybylski, Robert J Wootton
Author Information
  1. Carl Smith: School of Biology, University of St. Andrews St. Andrews, KY16 8LB, U.K.
  2. Rowena Spence: School of Biology, University of St. Andrews St. Andrews, KY16 8LB, U.K.
  3. Iain Barber: Department of Biology, University of Leicester Leicester, LE1 7RH, U.K.
  4. Mirosław Przybylski: Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Łódź Łódź, Poland.
  5. Robert J Wootton: Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DA, U.K.

Abstract

While the genetic basis to plate morph evolution of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is well described, the environmental variables that select for different plate and spine morphs are incompletely understood. Using replicate populations of three-spined sticklebacks on North Uist, Scotland, we previously investigated the role of predation pressure and calcium limitation on the adaptive evolution of stickleback morphology and behavior. While dissolved calcium proved a significant predictor of plate and spine morph, predator abundance did not. Ecol. Evol., xxx, 2014 and xxx performed a comparable analysis to our own to address the same question. They failed to detect a significant effect of dissolved calcium on morphological evolution, but did establish a significant effect of predation; albeit in the opposite direction to their prediction.

Keywords

References

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