Feller, A.F., Seehausen, O., Lucek, K. et al. (1 more author) (2016) Habitat choice and female preference in a polymorphic stickleback population. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 17 (3). pp. 419-435. ISSN 1522-0613
Abstract
Background: A small pond near Bern, Switzerland that is about 90 years old contains a population of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) with two distinct male phenotypes. Males of one type are large and red, and nest in the shallow littoral zone. Males of the other type are small and orange, and nest offshore at slightly greater depth. The females in this population are phenotypically highly variable but cannot easily be assigned to either male type. Question: Is the existence of two sympatric male morphs maintained by substrate-associated male nest-site choice and facilitated by female mate preferences? Organisms: Male stickleback caught individually at their breeding sites. Female stickleback caught with minnow traps. Methods: In experimental tanks, we simulated the slope and substrate of the two nesting habitats. Males were placed individually in a tank and we observed in which habitat they chose to build their nest. In a simultaneous two-stimulus choice design, we gave females the choice between a large, red male and a small, orange one. We measured female morphology and used linear mixed-effect models to determine whether female preference correlated with female morphology. Results: Both red and orange males preferred nesting in the habitat that simulated the slightly deeper offshore condition. This is the habitat occupied by the small, orange males in the pond. Females showed a broad and bimodal preference distribution, with one group of females choosing the small, orange male and the other females showing a weak tendency to prefer the large, red male. Several aspects of female phenotype correlated with the male type that a female preferred.
Metadata
Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 David A. Marques. All EER articles are copyrighted by their authors. All authors endorse, permit and license Evolutionary Ecology Ltd. to grant its subscribing institutions/libraries the copying privileges specified below without additional consideration or payment to them or to Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. These endorsements, in writing, are on file in the office of Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. Consult authors for permission to use any portion of their work in derivative works, compilations or to distribute their work in any commercial manner. Subscribing institutions/libraries may grant individuals the privilege of making a single copy of an EER article for non-commercial educational or non-commercial research purposes. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also use articles for non-commercial educational purposes by making any number of copies for course packs or course reserve collections. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also loan single copies of articles to non-commercial libraries for educational purposes. All copies of abstracts and articles must preserve their copyright notice without modification. |
Keywords: | behavioural mate choice; colour polymorphism; Gasterosteus aculeatus; sympatric divergence; threespine stickleback |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Aug 2017 15:03 |
Last Modified: | 22 Aug 2017 15:03 |
Published Version: | http://evolutionary-ecology.com/abstracts/v17/3017... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Evolutionary Ecology |
Refereed: | Yes |