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Sexual isolation promotes divergence between parapatric lake and stream stickleback

Sexual isolation promotes divergence between parapatric lake and stream stickleback
Sexual isolation promotes divergence between parapatric lake and stream stickleback
Speciation can be initiated by adaptive divergence between populations in ecologically different habitats, but how sexually based reproductive barriers contribute to this process is less well understood. We here test for sexual isolation between ecotypes of threespine stickleback fish residing in adjacent lake and stream habitats in the Lake Constance basin, Central Europe. Mating trials exposing females to pairings of territorial lake and stream males in outdoor mesocosms allowing for natural reproductive behaviour reveal that mating occurs preferentially between partners of the same ecotype. Compared to random mating, this sexual barrier reduces gene flow between the ecotypes by some 36%. This relatively modest strength of sexual isolation is surprising because comparing the males between the two ecotypes shows striking differentiation in traits generally considered relevant to reproductive behaviour (body size, breeding coloration, nest size). Analysing size differences among the individuals in the mating trials further indicates that assortative mating is not related to ecotype differences in body size. Overall, we demonstrate that sexually based reproductive isolation promotes divergence in lake–stream stickleback along with other known reproductive barriers, but we also caution against inferring strong sexual isolation from the observation of strong population divergence in sexually relevant traits.
assortative mating, body size, ecological speciation, Gasterosteus aculeatus, mate choice, mesocosm, nest, nuptial coloration, reproductive isolation
1010-061X
401-411
Berner, D.
ce7a19d5-c782-4dc0-a26b-7d8e517efaa7
Ammann, M.
bc6374aa-4e15-4aa3-a145-9e4f978a9160
Spencer, E.
987e51eb-71bd-41c4-9128-c5140595fd03
Rüegg, A.
9ad0037b-457c-4b8a-8545-cf4a8c9a93d2
Lüscher, D.
19542038-6799-48ce-abf6-3316731af985
Moser, D.
ca1f99d7-ffb6-413b-ab5c-672d22c5565a
Berner, D.
ce7a19d5-c782-4dc0-a26b-7d8e517efaa7
Ammann, M.
bc6374aa-4e15-4aa3-a145-9e4f978a9160
Spencer, E.
987e51eb-71bd-41c4-9128-c5140595fd03
Rüegg, A.
9ad0037b-457c-4b8a-8545-cf4a8c9a93d2
Lüscher, D.
19542038-6799-48ce-abf6-3316731af985
Moser, D.
ca1f99d7-ffb6-413b-ab5c-672d22c5565a

Berner, D., Ammann, M., Spencer, E., Rüegg, A., Lüscher, D. and Moser, D. (2017) Sexual isolation promotes divergence between parapatric lake and stream stickleback. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 30 (2), 401-411. (doi:10.1111/jeb.13016).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Speciation can be initiated by adaptive divergence between populations in ecologically different habitats, but how sexually based reproductive barriers contribute to this process is less well understood. We here test for sexual isolation between ecotypes of threespine stickleback fish residing in adjacent lake and stream habitats in the Lake Constance basin, Central Europe. Mating trials exposing females to pairings of territorial lake and stream males in outdoor mesocosms allowing for natural reproductive behaviour reveal that mating occurs preferentially between partners of the same ecotype. Compared to random mating, this sexual barrier reduces gene flow between the ecotypes by some 36%. This relatively modest strength of sexual isolation is surprising because comparing the males between the two ecotypes shows striking differentiation in traits generally considered relevant to reproductive behaviour (body size, breeding coloration, nest size). Analysing size differences among the individuals in the mating trials further indicates that assortative mating is not related to ecotype differences in body size. Overall, we demonstrate that sexually based reproductive isolation promotes divergence in lake–stream stickleback along with other known reproductive barriers, but we also caution against inferring strong sexual isolation from the observation of strong population divergence in sexually relevant traits.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 7 November 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 December 2016
Published date: 1 February 2017
Keywords: assortative mating, body size, ecological speciation, Gasterosteus aculeatus, mate choice, mesocosm, nest, nuptial coloration, reproductive isolation
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 403595
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/403595
ISSN: 1010-061X
PURE UUID: f2d65ec9-9244-45e0-8167-73fb3ef5fe30

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Date deposited: 06 Dec 2016 09:58
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:46

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Contributors

Author: D. Berner
Author: M. Ammann
Author: E. Spencer
Author: A. Rüegg
Author: D. Lüscher
Author: D. Moser

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