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Lake-Stream Divergence in Stickleback Life History: A Plastic Response to Trophic Niche Differentiation?

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Abstract

Speciation can be promoted by phenotypic plasticity if plasticity causes populations in ecologically different habitats to diverge in traits mediating reproductive isolation. Although this pathway can establish reproductive barriers immediately and without genetic divergence, it remains poorly investigated. In threespine stickleback fish, divergence in body size between populations represents a potent source of reproductive isolation because body size often influences reproductive behavior. However, the relative contribution of phenotypic plasticity and genetically based divergence to stickleback body size evolution has not been explored. We here do so by using populations residing contiguously in Lake Constance (Central Europe) and its tributaries, a system where lake fish exhibit strikingly larger size and greater age at maturity than stream fish. Laboratory experiments reveal the absence of substantial genetic divergence in intrinsic growth rates and maturation size thresholds between lake and stream fish. A field transplant experiment further demonstrates that lake fish display the life history typical of stream fish when exposed to stream habitats for one year, confirming that life history divergence in this system is mainly plastic. This plasticity appears to be driven by restricted food availability in the lake relative to the stream habitat. We thus propose that in this stickleback system, the exploitation of different trophic niches immediately promotes reproductive isolation via resource-based plasticity in life history.

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Acknowledgments

This work benefited greatly from many people who aided fieldwork, helped raise fish, and provided access to the study populations: Jon Bättig, Dieter Dziuba, Anja Frey, Reinhard Gartner, Friedhelm Glönkler, Manfred Gutsche, Roman Kistler, Patricia Koch, Manuel Konrad, Anton Krüger, Alban Lunardon, Milo Moser, Marcel Nater, Peter Nater, Reinhard Nitzinger, Catherine Peichel, Sabine Person, Marius Roesti, Attila Rüegg, Christian Vögeli, and Markus Zellweger. Walter Salzburger and Patricia Holm kindly shared lab resources and infrastructure. Marco Colombo and two reviewers provided valuable suggestions on the manuscript. Financial support was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 31003A 146208/1 to DB) and by the University of Basel.

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All experiments comply with the current laws of Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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  1. Zoological Institute, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, Basel, Switzerland

    Dario Moser, Benjamin Kueng & Daniel Berner

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  1. Dario Moser
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  2. Benjamin Kueng
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  3. Daniel Berner
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Correspondence to Daniel Berner.

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Moser, D., Kueng, B. & Berner, D. Lake-Stream Divergence in Stickleback Life History: A Plastic Response to Trophic Niche Differentiation?. Evol Biol 42, 328–338 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-015-9327-6

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