Speciation in nature: the threespine stickleback model systems

McKinnon, Jeffrey S.; Rundle, Howard D.

doi:10.1016/s0169-5347(02)02579-x

Cited by 508 publications

(602 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Speciation in benthics and limnetics appears to be driven by ecological divergence in multiple dimensions [40]. Imprinting may also play a role in other stickleback species pairs and the adaptive radiation of sticklebacks worldwide [41].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

2011

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During sexual imprinting, offspring learn parental phenotypes and then select mates who are similar to their parents. Imprinting has been thought to contribute to the process of speciation in only a few rare cases; this is despite imprinting's potential to generate assortative mating and solve the problem of recombination in ecological speciation. If offspring imprint on parental traits under divergent selection, these traits will then be involved in both adaptation and mate preference. Such 'magic traits' easily generate sexual isolation and facilitate speciation. In this study, we show that imprinting occurs in two ecologically divergent stickleback species (benthics and limnetics: Gasterosteus spp.). Cross-fostered females preferred mates of their foster father's species. Furthermore, imprinting is essential for sexual isolation between species; isolation was reduced when females were raised without fathers. Daughters imprinted on father odour and colour during a critical period early in development. These traits have diverged between the species owing to differences in ecology. Therefore, we provide the first evidence that imprinting links ecological adaptation to sexual isolation between species. Our results suggest that imprinting may facilitate the evolution of sexual isolation during ecological speciation, may be especially important in cases of rapid diversification, and thus play an integral role in the generation of biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

2011

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“…Freshwater stickleback commonly derive from ancestral marine populations that colonized freshwater habitats since the last glacial period *12,000 years ago (McKinnon and Rundle 2002). In the River Rhine, stickleback were naturally restricted to as far upstream as Basel and were absent from the Swiss midlands until about 1870 (Fatio 1882;Lucek et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic invasion drives phenotypic changes in central European threespine stickleback

Lucek

2016

Conserv Genet

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Cryptic invasions are commonly associated with genetic changes of the native species or genetic lineage that the invaders replace. Phenotypic shifts resulting from cryptic invasions are less commonly reported given the relative paucity of historical specimens that document such phenotypic changes. Here, I study such a case in two populations of threespine stickleback from central Europe, comparing contemporary patterns of gene flow with phenotypic changes between historical and contemporary population samples. I find gene flow from an invasive lineage to be associated with significant phenotypic changes, where the degree of phenotypic change corresponds with the level of gene flow that a population receives. These findings underline the utility of combining genetic approaches with phenotypic data to estimate the impact of gene flow in systems where anthropogenic alterations have removed former geographic barriers promoting cryptic invasions.

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“…THE THREESPINE STICKLEBACK ADAPTIVE RADIATION G. aculeatus comprises a very large complex of differentiated populations including a number of clear, but unnamed biological species (Bell and Foster, 1994;McKinnon and Rundle, 2002). The complex is broadly distributed in marine, brackish and coastal fresh waters in boreal and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, encompassing fully marine, estuarine, anadromous and freshwater lifestyles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback

et al. 2015

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The postglacial adaptive radiation of the threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has been widely used to investigate the roles of both adaptive evolution and plasticity in behavioral and morphological divergence from the ancestral condition represented by present-day oceanic stickleback. These phenotypes tend to exhibit high levels of ecotypic differentiation. Population divergence in life history has also been well studied, but in contrast to behavior and morphology, the extent and importance of plasticity has been much less well studied. In this review, we summarize what is known about life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback, considering four traits intimately associated with reproductive output: age/size at maturation, level of reproductive effort, egg size and clutch size. We envision life-history plasticity in an iterative, ontogenetic framework, in which females may express plasticity repeatedly across each of several time frames. We contrast the results of laboratory and field studies because, for most traits, these approaches give somewhat different answers. We provide ideas on what the cues might be for observed plasticity in each trait and, when possible, we inquire about the relative costs and benefits to expressed plasticity. We end with an example of how we think plasticity may play out in stickleback life history given what we know of plasticity in the ancestor.

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Speciation in nature: the threespine stickleback model systems

Cited by 508 publications

References 60 publications

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

Cryptic invasion drives phenotypic changes in central European threespine stickleback

Life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback

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