Ecology of Adaptive Peak Shifts in Alaskan Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

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atmire.migration.oldid3902
dc.contributor.advisorRogers, Sean M.
dc.contributor.advisorVamosi, Steven M.
dc.contributor.authorVanderzwan, Stevi Lee
dc.contributor.committeememberJamniczky, Heather A.
dc.contributor.committeememberTheodor, Jessica M.
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-04T23:14:36Z
dc.date.available2015-12-04T23:14:36Z
dc.date.issued2015-12-04
dc.date.submitted2015en
dc.description.abstractDivergent natural selection is a major cause of phenotypic differentiation among populations exploiting different environments, but information on the ecological factors contributing to peak shift is largely missing from natural populations. Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is an emerging vertebrate model for studying phenotype-environment associations, as ancestral marine populations have adapted independently to postglacial freshwater environments. I characterized antipredator, foraging, and body shape phenotypes of 800+ fish from 16 ecologically diverse sites on the Alaska Peninsula. Gill rakers, antipredator traits, and body shape significantly associated with lake ecology, whereas foraging traits and body shape were influenced by geography. Stickleback from lakes ecologically similar to the ancestral state were more phenotypically similar to marine-influenced populations than fish from ecologically divergent habitats (i.e., small lakes). My study elucidates mechanisms associated with adaptive evolution and is one of relatively few that links ecological features of the adaptive landscape with phenotypic evolution in multiple populations.en_US
dc.identifier.citationVanderzwan, S. L. (2015). Ecology of Adaptive Peak Shifts in Alaskan Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25781en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25781
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/2663
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectEcology
dc.subject.classificationadaptive landscapeen_US
dc.subject.classificationadaptive evolutionen_US
dc.subject.classificationgeometric morphometricsen_US
dc.subject.classificationforaging traitsen_US
dc.subject.classificationantipredator traitsen_US
dc.subject.classificationbody shapeen_US
dc.subject.classificationevolutionary ecologyen_US
dc.titleEcology of Adaptive Peak Shifts in Alaskan Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineBiological Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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