The role of calcium and predation on plate morph evolution in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Abstract

While the genetic basis to plate morph evolution of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is well described, the environmental variables that select for different plate and spine morphs are incompletely understood. Using replicate populations of three-spined sticklebacks on North Uist, Scotland, we previously investigated the role of predation pressure and calcium limitation on the adaptive evolution of stickleback morphology and behavior. While dissolved calcium proved a significant predictor of plate and spine morph, predator abundance did not. Ecol. Evol., xxx, 2014 and xxx performed a comparable analysis to our own to address the same question. They failed to detect a significant effect of dissolved calcium on morphological evolution, but did establish a significant effect of predation; albeit in the opposite direction to their prediction.