Phenotypic plasticity for life history traits in a stream population of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L.

Abstract – The life history traits of breeding size, clutch size, egg size and relative clutch mass were examined for evidence of plasticity within a set of six annual samples of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., females from south-central Alaska, USA. Three samples (from 1992, 1996 and 1999) were of stickleback native to, and living within, a stream environment, while three (from 1995, 1996 and 1999) represented fish living within a pond environment recently colonized by the stream stickleback. Significant differences between stream and pond fish were found for all four traits. For most traits, pond-living females showed greater variation both across and within years than did stream-living females. Although extremely rapid evolution within the pond, or genetic drift caused by low founding population size, could not be completely ruled out, trait changes across years in both environments were interpreted as representing adaptive plasticity.