Experimental evidence for adaptive divergence in response to a warmed habitat reveals roles for morphology, allometry and parasite resistance

Bibliographic Details
Title: Experimental evidence for adaptive divergence in response to a warmed habitat reveals roles for morphology, allometry and parasite resistance
Authors: Bethany A. Smith, Ana P. B. Costa, Bjarni K. Kristjánsson, Kevin J. Parsons
Source: Ecology and Evolution, Vol 14, Iss 2, Pp n/a-n/a (2024)
Publisher Information: Wiley, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Ecology
Subject Terms: adaptive divergence, allometry, climate change, Gasterosteus aculeatus, geometric morphometrics, temperature, Ecology, QH540-549.5
More Details: Abstract Ectotherms are expected to be particularly vulnerable to climate change–driven increases in temperature. Understanding how populations adapt to novel thermal environments will be key for informing mitigation plans. We took advantage of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations inhabiting adjacent geothermal (warm) and ambient (cold) habitats to test for adaptive evolutionary divergence using a field reciprocal transplant experiment. We found evidence for adaptive morphological divergence, as growth (length change) in non‐native habitats related to head, posterior and total body shape. Higher growth in fish transplanted to a non‐native habitat was associated with morphological shape closer to native fish. The consequences of transplantation were asymmetric with cold sourced fish transplanted to the warm habitat suffering from lower survival rates and greater parasite prevalence than warm sourced fish transplanted to the cold habitat. We also found divergent shape allometries that related to growth. Our findings suggest that wild populations can adapt quickly to thermal conditions, but immediate transitions to warmer conditions may be particularly difficult.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2045-7758
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10907
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/0614669bf1484649890a1c3ffec0edaf
Accession Number: edsdoj.0614669bf1484649890a1c3ffec0edaf
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20457758
DOI:10.1002/ece3.10907
Published in:Ecology and Evolution
Language:English