Predator biomass and vegetation influence the coastal distribution of threespine stickleback morphotypes.

ABSTRACT: Intraspecific niche differentiation can contribute to population persistence in changing environments. Following declines in large predatory fish, eutrophication, and climate change, there has been a major increase in the abundance of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in the Baltic Sea. Two morphotype groups with different levels of body armor-completely plated and incompletely plated-are common in coastal Baltic Sea habitats. The morphotypes are similar in shape, size, and other morphological characteristics and live as one apparently intermixed population. Variation in resource use between the groups could indicate a degree of niche segregation that could aid population persistence in the face of further environmental change. To assess whether morphotypes exhibit nic

SUBMITTER: Yanos CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8462182 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature