DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5hqbzkh9t
title: Multi-generation selective landscapes and sub-lethal injuries in stickleback

description: The interaction between predation landscape and phenotypic variability
 within prey populations is of substantial significance in evolutionary
 biology. Extending from several decades of studies at a remote freshwater
 lake on Haida Gwaii, western Canada, we analyze the incidence of
 predator-induced sub-lethal injuries in 8,069 wild-captured threespine
 stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and using cohort analyses test
 whether the distribution of injuries informs the selective landscape
 influencing the bell-shaped frequency distribution of the traits. Our
 results indicate that (1) the incidence of injuries varies among
 phenotypes differing in the number and position of lateral plates, (2)
 these differences occur only among younger fish, (3) the incidence of
 injuries is inversely related to the estimated population frequencies of
 plate phenotypes, with the modal phenotype generally having the fewest
 injuries, (4) direct estimates of selective differentials and relative
 fitness based on analyses of 1,735 fish from 6 independent yearly cohorts
 indicates statistically informative elevated differentials in phenotypes
 with greater number of plates and elevated relative fitness of non-modal
 phenotypes, and (5) there are significant differences among yearly cohorts
 in strength and direction of selection, and an increased prevalence of
 diversifying versus stabilizing selection despite longer-term stasis (4
 decades) in trait means. We conclude that the presence of multiple
 “optimal” phenotypes complements the renewed interest in quantifying
 short-term temporal or spatial variation in ecological processes in
 studies of fitness landscapes and intrapopulation variability.
description: Stickleback were sampled (1980-1983, 1985-1990, 2006, 2011-2013,
 2015-2016) with minnow traps baited with 1cc old cheddar cheese (total
 N=8069). For each collection prior to 2006, all fish with any evidence of
 injury as well as an equivalent sub-sample of uninjured fish were retained
 (details in Reimchen 1995) while from 2006 onwards, sampling effort was
 greatly reduced but all fish (injured and uninjured) were retained. Fish
 were anesthetized with MS-222 or Clove Oil preserved in 10% formalin and
 later transferred to isopropyl alcohol or ethanol. Collections were made
 under the Ministry of Environment (Gov’t of British Columbia) permits
 (SM09-51584 and SM10-62059) and the University of Victoria Aquatic Unit
 facility Standard Operating Procedure OA2003. We
 measured standard length (anterior edge of the jaw to the posterior edge
 of the caudal peduncle +/- 1mm), sex (examination of gonads), number and
 position of left lateral plates, length of the ventral plate of the pelvic
 girdle, and skeletal and integumentary injuries (details in Reimchen 1983,
 1988, Reimchen et al., 1985). All traits, apart from SL, were measured
 under a dissecting scope.
description: # Multi-generation selective landscapes and sub-lethal injuries in
 stickleback
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5hqbzkh9t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5hqbzkh9t) ## Data and file structure #### File: dryad1.csv ##### Variables * year: year * cohort2: year for age at hatching * age: age in years for fish * sl: standard length (mm) * sexcd: male=1, female=2 * vplatl: length of ventral plate * predinj3: category of injury. 0=no injury, 1=minor injury, 2=major injury * llp: number of left lateral plates  * llp1 - llp10: presence (1) or absence(0) of a plate at position 1 to 10 * llppost: presence (1) or absence(0) of a plate posterior to position 10.