Characterizing morphological and elemental traits of threespine stickleback across an urbanization gradient on Vancouver Island

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dc.contributor.authorMickens, Ashley
dc.contributor.supervisorEl-Sabaawi, Rana
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-01T16:51:13Z
dc.date.available2025-10-01T16:51:13Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Biology
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science MSc
dc.description.abstractUrbanization increasingly alters the landscapes surrounding cities. Anthropogenic impacts associated with urbanization, such as increased nutrients, habitat degradation, and the introduction of invasive species significantly impact the health of aquatic ecosystems. While many studies look at the relationship between urbanization and water quality, fewer look at how urbanization alters organismal traits, although there is increasing evidence that they are important for explaining the effect of urbanization on biodiversity. In this study, we examine the effect of urbanization on the traits of a common North American fish species, the Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). During summer 2022 and 2023, we collected stickleback from 15 freshwater locations on Vancouver Island across a gradient of urbanization. We quantified urbanization using three metrics constructed from several methods based on human population size density, infrastructure and land use. These metrics were used to analyze seven stickleback traits via principal component analyses (PCAs) and mixed effects linear models with AICc model selection. Our findings showed that urbanization increases body size, but had no relationship with the other six traits. This work provides recommendations on where to focus future sampling and conservation efforts while providing a framework for other researchers to carry out similar studies, thus increasing our understanding of the effects of urbanization on lake ecosystems.
dc.description.embargo2026-09-03
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduate
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/22818
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Web
dc.subjectUrbanization
dc.subjectStickleback
dc.subjectIntraspecific trait variation
dc.subjectAquatic ecosystems
dc.titleCharacterizing morphological and elemental traits of threespine stickleback across an urbanization gradient on Vancouver Island
dc.typeThesis

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