Watershed characteristics shape the landscape genetics of brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in shallow prairie lakes.

ABSTRACT: Investigating the consequences of landscape features on population genetic patterns is increasingly important to elucidate the ecological factors governing connectivity between populations and predicting the evolutionary consequences of landscapes. Small prairie lakes in Alberta, Canada, and the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) that inhabit them, provide a unique aquatic system whereby populations are highly isolated from one another. These heterogeneous and extreme environments are prone to winterkills, an event whereby most of the fish die and frequent bottlenecks occur. In this study, we characterized the genetic population structure of brook stickleback among several lakes, finding that the species is hierarchically influenced by within-lake characteristics in small-scale w

SUBMITTER: Kremer CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5415534 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature