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

Ecology and Evolution

Carl Smith²  Rowena Spence²  Iain Barber³  Mirosᐪw Przybylski¹ 

[1] Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland;School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, U.K;Department of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, U.K

关键词: Adaptation;    calcium concentration;    Gasterosteus aculeatus;    natural selection;    phenotypic adaptation;    selective predation;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.1180

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.