A Functional Biology of Sticklebacks

274 Pages·1984·6.7 MB·English

by  R. J. Wootton (auth.)

A FUNCTIONAL BIOLOGY OF STICKLEBACKS
FUNCTIONAL BIOLOGY SERIES
General Editor: Peter Calow, Department of Zoology,
University of Sheffield
A Functional Biology of Free-living Protozoa
Johanna Laybourn-Parry
A FunetiofUll
Biologyol
StieklebMIu
R.J. WOOTTON
Department of Zoology,
The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
CROOM HELM
London & Sydney
© 1984 R.J. Wootton
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1984
Croom Helm Ltd, Provident House, Burrell Row,
Beckenham, Kent BR3 lAT
Croom Helm Australia Pty Ltd, First Floor, 139 King Street,
Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Wootton, R.J.
A functional biology of sticklebacks.
(Functional biology series)
1. Sticklebacks
1. Title II. Series
597'.53 QL638.G27
ISBN 978-1-4615-8515-2 ISBN 978-1-4615-8513-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-8513-8
Typeset and designed by Columns of Reading
CONTENTS
Series Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
2 Spatial Distribution 4
3 Structure and Function 20
4 Feeding 32
5 Environmental Factors, Metabolism and Energetics 63
6 Growth and Production 83
7 Reproduction 103
8 Inter-specific Interactions 155
9 Population Dynamics 182
10 Ecological Genetics 193
11 life-history Strategy in Sticklebacks 227
References 239
Index 261
For Siobhan and Sean, sceptical of sticklebacks
FUNCTIONAL BIOLOGY SERIES: FOREWORD
General Editor: Peter Calow, Department of Zoology,
University of Sheffield, England
The main aim of this series will be to illustrate and to explain the way
organisms 'make a living' in nature. At the heart of this - their func
tional biology - is the way organisms acquire and then make use of
resources in metabolism, movement, growth, reproduction, and so
on. These processes will form the fundamental framework of all the
books in the series. Each book will concentrate on a particular taxon
(species, family, class or even phylum) and will bring together informa
tion on the form, physiology, ecology and evolutionary biology of the
group. The aim will be not only to describe how organisms work, but
also to consider why they have come to work in that way. By con
centrating on taxa which are well known, it is hoped that the series will
not only illustrate the success of selection, but also show the constraints
imposed upon it by the physiological, morphological and develop
mental limitations of the groups.
Another important feature of the series will be its organismic orien
tation. Each book will emphasise the importance offunctional integra
tion in the day-to-day lives and the evolution of organisms. This is
crucial since, though it may be true that organisms can be considered as
collections of gene-determined traits, they nevertheless interact with
their environment as integrated wholes and it is in this context that
individual traits have been subjected to natural selection and have
evolved.
The key features of the series are, therefore:
(1) Its emphasis on whole organisms as integrated, resource-using
systems.
(2) Its interest in the way selection and constraints have moulded
the evolution of adaptations in particular taxonomic groups.
(3) Its bringing together of physiological, morphological, ecological
and evolutionary information.
P. Calow
PREFACE
Writing this book in the Functional Biology Series has allowed me to
combine two of my major academic interests, research on the biology
of the sticklebacks and teaching courses on theoretical ecology. The
purposes of the book are twofold. The first is to demonstrate that the
theoretical framework in ecology and evolutionary biology that has
been developed, much of it over the past two decades, can be used to
illuminate our understanding of the ways in which animals function in
everyday life. The second is to show that the knowledge that can only
be gained by a close and detailed study of a taxon will be required to
test critically this theoretical framework.
In writing this volume, I have been greatly helped by the advice of
my colleagues. I would like to thank P. Calow, G.J. FitzGerald and
F .A. Huntingford, who commented on the complete manuscript.
M.A. Hell, J. Gee, H. Guderley, M. Milinski, D. Wharton and F. Whoriskey
read sections of it. Their criticisms improved both the accuracy and
clarity of the text. The mistakes of fact and interpretation that remain
are my responsibility. I also thank Denise Long for her excellent
drawings and R. Matthews for help with the word-processing. Finally,
I thank my wife, Maureen, whose help and advice at all stages in the
writing of this book were invaluable.
R.J. Wootton
Aberystwyth
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All the Figures were freshly drawn, but I am grateful to the following
for their permission to adapt copyright material. Figure 1.1 from
A mer. Nat. 16, 775-84 (l976), Dr E.R. Pianka and the American
SOciety of Zoologists. Figures 2.7 and 7.5 with permission from The
Biology of the Sticklebacks; copyright: Academic Press, London.
Figure 4.1 from Neth. J. Zoo I. 28. 485-523 (1978), Dr G.Ch. Anker
and E.1. Brill, Leiden. Figure 4.2 from Behaviour 15, 284-318 (l960),
Dr B. Tugendhat and E.1. Brill, Leiden. Figure 4.3 from Z. Tierpsychol.
45, 373-88 (l977), Dr M. Milinski and Paul Parey (Berlin). Figure 4.4
reprinted by permission from Nature 275, 642-44, Copyright © The
Macmillan Press Ltd 1978 and Dr M. Milinski. Figure 4.5 from J. expo
Mar. Bioi. Eco!. 25, 151-58 (l976), Dr R.N. Gibson and Elsevier
Biomedical Press. Figures 6.2-6.4 from J. Fish Bioi. 20,409-22 (1982),
Fisheries Society of the British Isles. Figure 7.3 R.A. Moore. Figure 8.1
from Behaviour 10,205-37 (1957), E.1. Brill, Leiden. Figure 10.3 from
Amer. Nat. 117, 113-32 (l981), Dr M.A. Bell and © 1981 The University
of Chicago. Figure 10.5 from Evolution 33, 641-48 (1979), Dr D.W.
Hagen and the Editor, Evolution. Figure 10.6 from J. Fish. Res. Bd
Canada 26, 3183-208, Fisheries and Oceans, Canada.
1 INTRODUCTION
The past two decades have seen a proliferation of theoretical studies
in the related fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. Studies of
optimal foraging, demography and life-history strategies spring quickly
to mind. A strengthening of the theoretical framework of these fields
is welcome, but it does bring with it an attendant danger. Mathematical
equations can have a seductive elegance, simulation models developed
on a computer a persuasive productivity. The danger develops when
these theoretical developments are not tested by encounters with the
often recalcitrant living organisms whose biology the theories should
illuminate. The theoretical developments lose touch with the biological
reality (Steams, 1976, 1977).
Even when theories are tested, the diversity of living organisms is
such that it may be possible to select a suitable example which seems to
confirm the favoured theory. A better test of the adequacy of the
theoretical framework is to apply it to organisms whose biology is
already well known. How well can the framework be used to interpret
and understand the life histories of active, living, evolving organisms
coping with a difficult and changing world? Such an approach is also
important in showing students that the theoretical framework can
profitably be used to understand the biology of real organisms. Often
students fmd it difficult to relate the theory to what they see living
organisms doing.
An animal can be viewed as a system that converts the energy
and materials in its food into offspring. An input, food, is 'mapped'
into an output, the progeny (Figure 1.1) (Pianka, 1976). The success
of the animal is measured by the number of its offspring that survive
to reach their sexual maturity. This success has to be achieved in the
face of possible shortages of food, living space and time in a potentially
hostile physical and biotic environment. Although the description
of the life histories of animals has always formed a significant part
of zoology, the quantitative analysis of life histories is a recent develop
ment. This analysis has two components: theoretical studies of the
consequences and the adaptive signifirance of patterns or'survivorship