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The Interplay Between Selection And Constraints On Adaptive Divergence And Phenotypic Evolution

Eroukhmanoff, Fabrice LU (2009)
Abstract
Under natural or sexual selection, individuals with advantageous traits or

combinations of traits will be more successful than their peers at surviving

and/or reproducing. Provided these traits are heritable, meaning that they

have a genetic basis, the traits combinations which are selected for, will

increase in frequency in the population. When selection is intense and

persistent, adaptive traits may become ubiquitous in the population, and we

may then say that this population has evolved and become adapted.

However, this process might not always occur rapidly. This is because

adaptive evolution occurs only when the individuals of a population are

diverse in... (More)
Under natural or sexual selection, individuals with advantageous traits or

combinations of traits will be more successful than their peers at surviving

and/or reproducing. Provided these traits are heritable, meaning that they

have a genetic basis, the traits combinations which are selected for, will

increase in frequency in the population. When selection is intense and

persistent, adaptive traits may become ubiquitous in the population, and we

may then say that this population has evolved and become adapted.

However, this process might not always occur rapidly. This is because

adaptive evolution occurs only when the individuals of a population are

diverse in their trait combinations and when there is a significant amount of

genetic variation for the trait(s) upon which selection is acting.

However, if the adaptive optimum of a combination of traits is situated in a

direction where there is little variation available, adaptation will be slowed down, and we will say it is constrained. This is precisely what I attempted to study in this thesis. The outcome of the interplay between selection and constraints might lead to evolution, to divergence between populations, and finally to the emergence of new species and biodiversity. By using different statistical techniques used in quantitative genetics or geometric morphometrics, combined with behavioral and breeding experiments, I

tried to draw some conclusions on the role of constraints both in the early

stages of adaptation and divergence (using isopod lake populations as a

model system) and in the latter stages of divergence and speciation (using

damselfly species as model organisms). My main conclusions are that in

the context of strong divergent selection, constraints may be overcome and

adaptation may proceed, provided that gene flow between populations is

restrained. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Hendry, Andrew, Department of Biology, Mc Gill University, Montreal, Canada
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Selection, Constraints, Adaptive Divergence, G-matrix, Gene Flow., Speciation
pages
242 pages
publisher
Animal Ecology
defense location
BlÄ Hallen, Ekologihuset, Sölvegatan 37, Lund
defense date
2009-11-20 10:00:00
ISBN
978-91-7105-304-6
project
SUFOR
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Animal Ecology (Closed 2011) (011012001)
id
9c41273e-7d5a-48bf-b817-cd78ed936638 (old id 1496038)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 12:19:22
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:10:16
@phdthesis{9c41273e-7d5a-48bf-b817-cd78ed936638,
  abstract     = {{Under natural or sexual selection, individuals with advantageous traits or<br/><br>
combinations of traits will be more successful than their peers at surviving<br/><br>
and/or reproducing. Provided these traits are heritable, meaning that they<br/><br>
have a genetic basis, the traits combinations which are selected for, will<br/><br>
increase in frequency in the population. When selection is intense and<br/><br>
persistent, adaptive traits may become ubiquitous in the population, and we<br/><br>
may then say that this population has evolved and become adapted.<br/><br>
However, this process might not always occur rapidly. This is because<br/><br>
adaptive evolution occurs only when the individuals of a population are<br/><br>
diverse in their trait combinations and when there is a significant amount of<br/><br>
genetic variation for the trait(s) upon which selection is acting.<br/><br>
However, if the adaptive optimum of a combination of traits is situated in a<br/><br>
direction where there is little variation available, adaptation will be slowed down, and we will say it is constrained. This is precisely what I attempted to study in this thesis. The outcome of the interplay between selection and constraints might lead to evolution, to divergence between populations, and finally to the emergence of new species and biodiversity. By using different statistical techniques used in quantitative genetics or geometric morphometrics, combined with behavioral and breeding experiments, I<br/><br>
tried to draw some conclusions on the role of constraints both in the early<br/><br>
stages of adaptation and divergence (using isopod lake populations as a<br/><br>
model system) and in the latter stages of divergence and speciation (using<br/><br>
damselfly species as model organisms). My main conclusions are that in<br/><br>
the context of strong divergent selection, constraints may be overcome and<br/><br>
adaptation may proceed, provided that gene flow between populations is<br/><br>
restrained.}},
  author       = {{Eroukhmanoff, Fabrice}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7105-304-6}},
  keywords     = {{Selection; Constraints; Adaptive Divergence; G-matrix; Gene Flow.; Speciation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Animal Ecology}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{The Interplay Between Selection And Constraints On Adaptive Divergence And Phenotypic Evolution}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}