2015/09/04 by Tim Coulson, Coulson, Tim, Floriane Plard +7
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Genetic diversity and population structure #Species Distribution and Climate Change
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1509.01351
1) Micro-evolutionary predictions are complicated by ecological feedbacks\nlike density dependence, while ecological predictions can be complicated by\nevolutionary change. A widely used approach in micro-evolution, quantitative\ngenetics, struggles to incorporate ecological processes into predictive models,\nwhile structured population modelling, a tool widely used in ecology, rarely\nincorporates evolution explicitly.\n 2) In this paper we develop a flexible, general framework that links\nquantitative genetics and structured population models. We use the quantitative\ngenetic approach to write down the phenotype as an additive map. We then\nconstruct integral projection models for each component of the phenotype. The\ndynamics of the distribution of the phenotype are generated by combining\ndistributions of each of its components. Population projection models can be\nformulated on per generation or on shorter time steps.\n 3) We introduce the framework before developing example models with\nparameters chosen to exhibit specific dynamics. These models reveal (i) how\nevolution of a phenotype can cause populations to move from one dynamical\nregime to another (e.g. from stationarity to cycles), (ii) how additive genetic\nvariances and covariances (the G matrix) are expected to evolve over multiple\ngenerations, (iii) how changing heritability with age can maintain additive\ngenetic variation in the face of selection and (iii) life history, population\ndynamics, phenotypic characters and parameters in ecological models will change\nas adaptation occurs.\n 4) Our approach unifies population ecology and evolutionary biology providing\na framework allowing a very wide range of questions to be addressed. The next\nstep is to apply the approach to a variety of laboratory and field systems.\nOnce this is done we will have a much deeper understanding of eco-evolutionary\ndynamics and feedbacks.\n