Distinctive insular forms of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from western Mediterranean islands ...

• Main Authors: Lucek, Kay Jurka Olaf, Seehausen, Ole
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2015
• Subjects: 570 Life sciences; biology; Iceland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.70402; http://boris.unibe.ch/70402/

Neutral and adaptive variation among populations within a species is a major component of biological diversity and may be pronounced among insular populations due to geographical isolation and island specific evolutionary forces at work. Detecting and preserving potential evolutionary significant units below the species rank has become a crucial task for conservation biology. Combining genetic, phenotypic and ecological data, we investigated evolutionary patterns among the enigmatic threespine stickleback populations from western Mediterranean islands, all of which are threatened by habitat deterioration and climate change. We find indications that these populations derive from different genetic lineages, being genetically highly distinct from the stickleback of mainland Europe and the northern Atlantic as well as from each other. Mediterranean island stickleback populations are also phenotypically distinct from mainland populations but interestingly stickleback from Iceland have converged on a similar ...