Historical and ecological sources of variation among lake populations of threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, near Cook Inlet, Alaska

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Abstract
Multivariate analyses of morphological variation of Gasterosteus aculeatus from 24 lakes in a recently deglaciated region north of Cook Inlet, Alaska, were performed. Presence or absence of the pelvis most effectively discriminates among populations. Intralocality character correlations generally were similar to interlocality correlations, but the among-locality relationship of body depth with other morphometric variables was different from its relationships within localities, which suggests that genetic reorganization during the evolution of these populations has broken the expected correlated response of body depth with other variables. Variation within different suites of covarying morphological characters is best explained by either historical processes (phylogeny, gene flow) or the present distribution of environmental variables (adaptation). The set of populations studied must have been derived from marine Gasterosteus within the past 13 000 years and have diverged markedly within a relatively short period of time. Rapid and extensive diversification appears to characterize Gasterosteus from recently deglaciated regions.

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