Predator-mediated resource limitation shapes body and head size variation in stickleback populations
Data files
Dec 02, 2025 version files 23.31 GB
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Fish_data.csv
326.82 KB
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Fish_photos_moosmann_et_al_2025.zip
23.31 GB
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JEB_2024_00346.R
16.27 KB
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Lake_data.csv
4.05 KB
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README.md
4.52 KB
Abstract
Predator and prey communities are key drivers of phenotypic variation in consumers, yet the ecological interactions shaping these traits remain understudied in natural food webs. This dataset supports a comparative study examining how phenotypic variation in 34 Greenlandic threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations is influenced by the presence of an intraguild predator, Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). The dataset includes morphological measurements of stickleback body and head size, zooplankton community composition, and biomass estimates. Our findings indicate that in the presence of Arctic char, stickleback exhibit larger body sizes with relatively smaller heads, consistent with resource-mediated ontogenetic shifts observed in other fishes. Path analysis suggests that predator-mediated changes in zooplankton communities partially explain this shift, highlighting indirect effects of top predators on consumer resource limitation and allometric trait variation. This dataset provides valuable insights into the ecological mechanisms underlying phenotypic diversity and can be leveraged for further studies on trophic interactions, trait allometry, and evolutionary ecology.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8gtht770p
Dataset Description
This dataset accompanies the study investigating how the presence of an intraguild predator (Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus) influences phenotypic variation in Greenlandic threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Specifically, it includes morphological measurements of stickleback populations, zooplankton community composition, and biomass estimates, as well as measures of Lake morphometry. Additionally it containes the photos taken of the stickleback specimen for morphological measurements. The dataset can be used to explore trophic interactions, consumer trait allometry, and predator-induced selection pressures.
Files and variables
File: Fish_data.csv
Description: Fish population identity and morphological variables:
For a description of the morphological measurements see Figure S2 and Table S2 in the supplementary material. All measurements are in millimeter
Variables
- LakeID: Unique identifier for each lake/fish population
- FishID: Unique identifier for each fish
- SL: Standard length of the fish
- Epax_height_closed: Epaxial muscle height when mouth is closed
- Coupler: Coupler link (see Table S2)
- Fixed: Fixed link
- Input: Input link
- Output: Output link
- Gape: Gape width
- Buccal_length: Length of the Buccal cavity
- Neuro_Outlever: neurocranium outlever
- Jaw_Outlever: Outlever of the lower jaw
- Jaw_Inlever: Inlever of the lower jaw
- Jaw_prot: Jaw protrusion
- EpaxWidth: Expaxial width
- Eye: Eye diameter
- Epax_height_open: Epaxial muscle height when mouth is open
- Head_length: Length of the head
File: Lake_data.csv
Description: Data on the lake identity and condition, including the fish and zooplankton community
Variables
- LakeID: Unique identifier for each lake/fish population
- Lat: Latitude
- Long: Longitude
- Fish: Fish community composition: SB = stickleback only, SBC = stickleback and char
- Areaha: Lake surface area in ha
- TotalBM: Total Biomass of all zooplankton (µg/L)
- CalanoidBM: Biomass of calanoid copepods (µg/L)
- Non_evasiveBM: Biomass of non-evasive zooplankton taxa (µg/L)
- CPUE: Stickleback catch per unit effort (per h)
- ab_Chydoridae: Abundance of Chydoridae (ind./L)
- ab_Calanoida: Abundance of Calanoida
- ab_Daphniidae: Abundance of Daphniidae
- ab_Cyclopoida: Abundance of Cyclopoida
- ab_Polyphemus: Abundance of Polyphemus
- ab_Macrothrix: Abundance of Macrothrix
- ab_Holopedium: Abundance of Holopedium
- ab_Bosmina: Abundance of Bosmina
Photographs
File: Fish_photos_moosmann_et_al_2025
This files contains the photographs of stained threespine stickleback used for morphological analysis. The image files are organized by lake, the folder names correspond with the LakeIDs in the csv files. Each fish was fotographed from three perspectives: dorsally, laterally with mouth open and laterally with mouth closed. The individual images are labeled by Lake ID, perspective, and an unique ID number that corresponds with FishID in the file Fish_data.csv.
Code/software
File: JEB_2024_00346.R
Description: R file containing all the analysis steps performed in the Manuscript
This dataset can be viewed and analyzed using free, open-source software. The primary software used for data processing and analysis was R (version R version 4.4.1). The following R packages were loaded for data cleaning, visualization, and statistical modeling:
readr – for reading CSV files
tidyr – for data wrangling
dplyr – for data manipulation
ggplot2 – for data visualization
lme4 – for mixed-effects modeling
lmerTest – for statistical inference on mixed models
vegan – for ecological multivariate analyses
ggeffects – for extracting model predictions
rstan – for Bayesian statistical modeling
brms – for Bayesian regression modeling
To ensure reproducibility, the following workflow was used:
Data were imported and cleaned using readr and dplyr.
Morphological and zooplankton data were reshaped using tidyr.
Exploratory data visualization was performed with ggplot2.
Statistical modeling, including path analysis and mixed models, was conducted using lme4, lmerTest, vegan, and Bayesian models using rstan and brms.
Model predictions and visualizations were generated with ggeffects.