Evolutionary Branching in a Finite Population: Deterministic Branching vs. Stochastic Branching

Adaptive dynamics formalism demonstrates that, in a constant environment, a continuous trait may first converge to a singular point followed by spontaneous transition from a unimodal trait distribution into a bimodal one, which is called “evolutionary branching.” Most previous analyses of evolutionary branching have been conducted in an infinitely large population. Here, we study the effect of stochasticity caused by the finiteness of the population size on evolutionary branching. By analyzing the dynamics of trait variance, we obtain the condition for evolutionary branching as the one under which trait variance explodes. Genetic drift reduces the trait variance and causes stochastic fluctuation. In a very small population, evolutionary branching does not occur. In larger populations, evolutionary branching may occur, but it occurs in two different manners: in deterministic branching, branching occurs quickly when the population reaches the singular point, while in stochastic branching, the population stays at singularity for a period before branching out. The conditions for these cases and the mean branching-out times are calculated in terms of population size, mutational effects, and selection intensity and are confirmed by direct computer simulations of the individual-based model.     

Assortative mating for relatedness in a large naturally occurring population of Drosophila melanogaster

New theoretical work on kin selection and inclusive fitness benefits predicts that individuals will sometimes choose close or intermediate relatives as mates to maximize their fitness. However, empirical examples supporting such predictions are rare. In this study, we look for such evidence in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster. We compared mating and nonmating individuals to test whether mating was nonrandom with respect to relatedness. Consistent with optimal inbreeding, males were more closely related to their mate than to randomly sampled females. However, all individuals collected mating showed higher relatedness and males were not significantly more related to their mate than to other mating females. We also found a negative relationship between relatedness and fecundity. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that inclusive fitness benefits may drive inbreeding tolerance despite direct costs to fitness; however, an experimental approach is needed to investigate the link between mate preference and relatedness.     

The genetic architecture of adaptation under migration-selection balance

Many ecologically important traits have a complex genetic basis, with the potential for mutations at many different genes to shape the phenotype. Even so, studies of local adaptation in heterogeneous environments sometimes find that just a few quantitative trait loci (QTL) of large effect can explain a large percentage of observed differences between phenotypically divergent populations. As high levels of gene flow can swamp divergence at weakly selected alleles, migration-selection-drift balance may play an important role in shaping the genetic architecture of local adaptation. Here, we use analytical approximations and individual-based simulations to explore how genetic architecture evolves when two populations connected by migration experience stabilizing selection toward different optima. In contrast to the exponential distribution of allele effect sizes expected under adaptation without migration (Orr 1998), we find that adaptation with migration tends to result in concentrated genetic architectures with fewer, larger, and more tightly linked divergent alleles. Even if many small alleles contribute to adaptation at the outset, they tend to be replaced by a few large alleles under prolonged bouts of stabilizing selection with migration. All else being equal, we also find that stronger selection can maintain linked clusters of locally adapted alleles over much greater map distances than weaker selection. The common empirical finding of QTL of large effect is shown to be expected with migration in a heterogeneous landscape, and these QTL may often be composed of several tightly linked alleles of smaller effect.     

北方草原牧户心理载畜率与草畜平衡生态管理途径

探讨牧户心理载畜率与草畜平衡生态管理的途径对于草原有效减畜、遏止草原退化、实现可持续发展具有重要意义。从生态学和社会科学相结合的角度,采用问卷调查、情景实验及综合分析等多种方法,探讨了北方草原牧户心理载畜率的存在、计算和影响因素,以及牧户生产决策行为特征和可能的生态管理途径。研究发现,在草甸草原、典型草原和荒漠草原,牧户行为属"有限理性",是有限理性的"生态经济人",风险规避是其基本特征,牧户生产决策表现出禀赋效应、损失厌恶、框架效应等;牧户草场所属草原类型和牲畜存栏数显著影响牧户对草场超载的认知和判断,在不同草原类型区,户主文化水平、性别、民族和是否嘎查干部等亦显著影响牧户对超载的认知和判断;需采取基于进化博弈的分步式、合作式及示范引导式的适应性减畜的生态管理途径,以实现牧户心理载畜率向生态优化载畜率的转移,实现优化牧户生产方式、减少牲畜数量、治理草原退化、北方牧区生态和牧民经济双赢的目标。