Environmentally Modulated Repeat Evolution of Polymorphic Arctic Charr Life History Traits

Sympatric Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L. 1758), morphs have flexible but repeated life history strategies tested across five Norwegian lakes. In several Scandinavian polymorphic Arctic charr populations differentiated by their diet and habitat use, a large littoral omnivorous (LO) morph common...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Main Authors: Gabrielle Grenier, Aslak Smalås, Runar Kjær, Rune Knudsen
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Subjects:
growth
maturity
sympatric populations
ecological evolution
biphasic growth model
Salvelinus alpinus L
Evolution
QH359-425
Ecology
QH540-549.5
Arctic
Arctic charr
Salvelinus alpinus
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.771309
https://doaj.org/article/c6997b14184541e3bfacacef5d71110d
Description
Summary:Sympatric Arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L. 1758), morphs have flexible but repeated life history strategies tested across five Norwegian lakes. In several Scandinavian polymorphic Arctic charr populations differentiated by their diet and habitat use, a large littoral omnivorous (LO) morph commonly cooccurs with a smaller profundal spawning (PB/PZ) morph. A third, large piscivorous (PP) morph is also known to occur within a portion of Arctic charr populations in the profundal habitat along with the PB/PZ individuals. Life history traits, such as age at maturity, growth, and diet are known to differ among coexisting morphs. Notably, the PP morph was the longest morph with the oldest age at maturity while the PB/PZ morph showed the shortest lengths overall and youngest age with LO morph being intermediate in both traits. Growth parameters differed across all the morphs. When examining growth within morph groups, the LO morph was found to have different growth across all lakes, while similar reproductive investments and different energy acquisition patterns were seen within the PB/PZ and PP morphs. These results suggest repeat evolution in several life history strategies of reproductively isolated Arctic charr sympatric morphs, notably for the first time in the PP morph, while also highlighting the importance of the local environment in modulating life history traits.

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