Objective 3: Trends in use of “life history” and “ecotype”
Our literature search yielded 120 articles, including 46 that focused on
sticklebacks, 61 on PST, and 13 on lampreys (Table 2). Nine articles
found by the Web of Science literature search were omitted from our
analyses because these papers focused on life stage differences rather
than intra-specific phenotypic differences. Journals with a general
focus on organismal biology and ecology tended to use the term(s) “life
history / life histories”, whereas journals focusing on evolution and
genetics tended to use the term “ecotype(s)” (Figure 1). Studies that
used the term ecotype(s) tended to report a genetic basis for the
phenotypic differences (Figure 2). The literature on sticklebacks tended
to use both life history / life histories and ecotype(s) in equal
amounts (Figure 3A), whereas the literature on PST and lampreys tended
to use life history / life histories to a greater extent (Figures 3B and
3C). Taken together, this information suggests that sticklebacks have
been a field and laboratory model for evolutionary and genetic research,
whereas PST have tended to be the focus of fisheries-related research
and management, and lampreys have experienced comparatively much less
research.