Parsons, Paul J.; Bridle, Jon R.; Rüber, Lukas; Genner, Martin J. (2017). Evolutionary divergence in life history traits among populations of the Lake Malawi cichlid fish Astatotilapia calliptera. Ecology and evolution, 7(20), pp. 8488-8506. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 10.1002/ece3.3311
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Parsons_2017_Ecol_Evol_Evolutionary divergence in life history traits among populations of the Malawi cichlid Astatotilapia calliptera.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (831kB) | Preview |
During the early stages of adaptive radiation, populations diverge in life history traits
such as egg size and growth rates, in addition to eco- morphological and behavioral
characteristics. However, there are few studies of life history divergence within ongoing
adaptive radiations. Here, we studied Astatotilapia calliptera, a maternal mouthbrooding
cichlid fish within the Lake Malawi haplochromine radiation. This species occupies a rich diversity of habitats, including the main body of Lake Malawi, as well as peripheral rivers and shallow lakes. We used common garden experiments to test for life history divergence among populations, focussing on clutch size, duration of incubation, egg mass, offspring size, and growth rates. In a first experiment, we found significant differences among populations in average clutch size and egg mass, and larger clutches were associated with smaller eggs. In a second experiment, we found significant differences among populations in brood size, duration of incubation, juvenile length when released, and growth rates. Larger broods were associated with smaller juveniles when released and shorter incubation times. Although juvenile growth rates differed between populations, these were not strongly related to initial size on release. Overall, differences in life history characters among populations were not predicted by major habitat classifications (Lake Malawi or peripheral habitats) or population genetic divergence (microsatellite- based FST). We suggest that the observed patterns are consistent with local selective forces driving the observed patterns of trait divergence. The results provide strong evidence of evolutionary divergence and covariance of life history traits among populations within a radiating cichlid species, highlighting opportunities for further work to identify the processes driving the observed divergence.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Aquatic Ecology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Rüber, Lukas |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: |
2045-7758 |
Publisher: |
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Marcel Häsler |
Date Deposited: |
14 Jun 2018 16:15 |
Last Modified: |
29 Feb 2024 08:42 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1002/ece3.3311 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.114934 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/114934 |
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