Data from: Convergence and non-convergence in ecological, phenotypic, and genetic divergence across replicate population pairs of lake and stream stickleback

Convergent (or parallel) evolution provides strong evidence for a
deterministic role of natural selection: similar phenotypes evolve when
independent populations colonize similar environments. In reality,
however, independent populations in similar environments always show some
differences: some non-convergent evolution is present. It is therefore
important to explicitly quantify the convergent and non-convergent aspects
of trait variation, and to investigate the ecological and genetic
explanations for each. We performed such an analysis for threespine
stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations inhabiting lake and
stream habitats in independent watersheds. Morphological traits differed
in the degree to which lake-stream divergence was convergent across
watersheds. Some aspects of this variation were correlated with ecological
variables related to diet, presumably reflecting the strength and
specifics of divergent selection. Furthermore, a genetic scan revealed
some markers that diverged between lakes and streams in many of the
watersheds and some that diverged in only a few watersheds. Moreover, some
of the lake-stream divergence in genetic markers was associated within
some of the lake-stream divergence in morphological traits. Our results
suggest that convergent evolution, and deviations from it, are primarily
the result of natural selection, which corresponds in only some respect to
the dichotomous habitat classifications frequently used in such studies.