Modelling sympatric speciation by means of biologically plausible mechanistic processes as exemplified by threespine stickleback species pairs

• Published in: Organisms diversity & evolution Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 287 - 306
• Main Authors: Kraak, Sarah Belle Mathilde, Hart, Paul J. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.09.2011; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: adapted feeding; Animal reproduction; Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Assortative mating; Benthos; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; British Columbia; Character displacement; Competition; Conspecifics; Contingency; Developmental Biology; Evolutionary Biology; Feeding habits; Food selection; foraging; Foraging habitats; Frequency; Frequency dependence; Gasterosteus aculeatus; Genotype & phenotype; Habitats; Hybrids; Imprinting; Intermediates; Life Sciences; Linkage disequilibrium; Loci; Mate selection; Mating; mating behavior; Modelling; Morphology; Original Article; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Polymorphism; Preferences; Realism; Reinforcement; Reproductive behaviour; Sexual selection; Speciation; Sympatric populations; sympatric speciation; British Columbia Canada; Canada; British Columbia; Reinforcement; Assortative mating; Disruptive selection; Frequency-dependent resource competition; Benthic/limnetic species pairs; Sympatric speciation

We investigate the plausibility of sympatric speciation through a modelling study. We built up a series of models with increasing complexity while focussing on questioning the realism of model assumptions by checking them critically against a particular biological system, namely the sympatric benthi...