Change in threespine stickleback defensive traits, following brook trout introduction
Data files
Oct 30, 2025 version files 53.77 KB
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README.md
4.03 KB
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Rond-Croche-aFoin_stocking_submission_tr.csv
998 B
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Tem-water-condition.csv
1.84 KB
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Temiscouata_nat-hist-note_8-25-25update.csv
40.53 KB
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Temiscouata-Nat_hist_note_tr.Rmd
6.37 KB
Abstract
In recent decades, numerous observations have been made of evolution induced by anthropogenic change in natural populations. Evolution in response to harvest, climate change, pollution, landscape change, and introduced invasive species is common. In the article "Evolution of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) defensive traits following the stocking of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)" in the American Naturalist, we provide evidence for evolution in a new context by documenting a large increase in the frequency of defensive pelvic spines in two unusual threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations previously shown to mostly lack such structures. These populations, in Parc national du Lac-Témiscouata, Québec, Canada, were historically free of predatory fish and consisted nearly entirely of pelvic-spineless stickleback. This phenotypic change coincided with the stocking of the lakes with brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), a stickleback predator, and the introductions of other species used by anglers as live bait. The rapid evolutionary change towards a more defensive morph in the populations should prompt increased caution regarding the effects of management practices on native species. Here we provide data (in csv files) and code (in an R Markdown file) necessary to reproduce the analyses and figures in the article. These data include lateral plate and defensive spine phenotypes observed within the park's threespine stickleback populations, as well as historical stocking data that was obtained from the park and the provincial government.
Description of the data and file structure
Code file: Temiscouata-Nat_hist_note_tr.Rmd
Data files: Temiscouata_nat-hist-note_8-25-25update.csv, Rond-Croche-aFoin_stocking_submission_tr.csv, Tem-water-condition.csv (not necessary for analyses, but shown in Table S1)
Details for Temiscouata_nat-hist-note_8-25-25update.csv:
Individual-level specimen data. Includes columns for: Lake, collection date (Date), collection year (Year), Individual ID number (ID), standard length in mm (SL), plate morph including asymmetric completes (PlateMorph), pelvic spine number (PSpineNum), L_Spine, R_Spine, and Avg_Spine (lengths in mm of left pelvic spine, right pelvic spine, and average of the two pelvic spines), Plate_count (count of plates from LaCasse & Aubin-Horth 2012), sex determined by dissection (Sex_gonads), museum accession number for data from Edge & Coad (1983), presence or absence of Schistocephalus solidus tapeworms (S_Solidus), the data source if collected prior to this study, and notes. See text for description of plate morphs.
Data from Edge & Coad and LaCasse & Aubin-Horth were reported at levels of sample (L & A) or museum collection number (E & C), so individual lines DO NOT refer to specific identifiable individuals, and numerals after the decimal in specimen IDs are not used to identify individuals in original data. Missing data: NA, filling in empty cells in your CSV could interfere with the code.
Details for Tem-water-condition.csv:
Contains data on water quality, with each row representing sampling instance. Includes columns for Site (not specific location [this is indicated by lat/lon coords], but lake/stream/etc), Latitude and Longitude (both in decimal degrees), Date, pH, Temperature (C), Specific Coductivity (uS/cm). Empty cells reperesent unavailable data.
Details for Rond-Croche-aFoin_stocking_submission.csv:
File is in french, all data available from Parc national du Lac-Témiscouata. Contains stocking data, with each row representing a stocking event. Includes columns for: LakeName, Year, date, StockedSpecies (all of these are brook trout / S. fontinalis), number of fish stocked (Number_stocked), minimum length of stocked fish in cm (Length_min), maximum length of stocked fish in cm (Length_max), life stage of fish introduced (Stage), source of stocked fish (Lot), Latitude, Longitude
Details for code file Temiscouata-Nat_hist_note.Rmd:
This is an R markdown file the generates a document containing the statistical tests and plot used in the paper. Statistical analysis for this manuscript consists only of a few Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Also generates summary tables of plate and spine morphs.
File: Temiscouata-Nat_hist_note.Rmd
Description: This is an R markdown file the generates a document containing the statistical tests and plots used in the paper. Statistical analysis for this manuscript consists only of a few Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and exact binomial tests. Also generates summary tables of plate and spine morphs.
Code/software
SOFTWARE VERSIONS
R version 4.5.1 (2025-06-13)
Platform: x86_64-apple-darwin20 (64-bit)
Running under: macOS Monterey 12.7.4
attached base packages:
[1] stats graphics grDevices utils datasets methods base
other attached packages:
[1] ggtext_0.1.2 patchwork_1.3.1 ggbeeswarm_0.7.2 ggplot2_3.5.2
[5] dplyr_1.1.4 forcats_1.0.0
Access information
Data was derived from the following sources:
- Original Data
- LaCasse & Aubin-Horth (2012) A test of the coupling of predator defense morphology and behavior variation in two threespine stickleback populations. Curr Zool 58:53-65. https://doi.org/10.1093/czoolo/58.1.53
- Edge & Coad (1983). Reduction of the pelvic skeleton in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, in two lakes of Québec. Can Field Nat 97:334-336.