0000000000205897
AUTHOR
Angela M. Sims
Impact of landscape on spatial genetic structure and diversity ofCoenagrion mercuriale(Zygoptera:Coenagrionidae) in northern France
AbstractLoss and fragmentation of habitat is a current main cause of biodiversity loss in freshwater habitats. Odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) depend on these habitats to complete their development. Fragmentation may be a particular threat for odonates because it generates a network of small habitat patches within which populations could suffer from isolation and loss of genetic diversity. The southern damselfly Coenagrion mercuriale is categorized on the IUCN red list as Near Threatened, largely because of population fragmentation and demographic declines associated with changes in land use. Small populations at the margin of this species’ range are of particular concern because the…
Intergenerational fitness effects of the early life environment in a wild rodent.
The early life environment can have profound, long-lasting effects on an individual's fitness. For example, early life quality might (a) positively associate with fitness (a silver spoon effect), (b) stimulate a predictive adaptive response (by adjusting the phenotype to the quality of the environment to maximize fitness) or (c) be obscured by subsequent plasticity. Potentially, the effects of the early life environment can persist beyond one generation, though the intergenerational plasticity on fitness traits of a subsequent generation is unclear. To study both intra- and intergenerational effects of the early life environment, we exposed a first generation of bank voles to two early life…
Balancing selection maintains polymorphisms at neurogenetic loci in field experiments
Most variation in behavior has a genetic basis, but the processes determining the level of diversity at behavioral loci are largely unknown for natural populations. Expression of arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (Avpr1a) and oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) in specific regions of the brain regulates diverse social and reproductive behaviors in mammals, including humans. That these genes have important fitness consequences and that natural populations contain extensive diversity at these loci implies the action of balancing selection. In Myodes glareolus, Avpr1a and Oxtr each contain a polymorphic microsatellite locus located in their 5′ regulatory region (the regulatory region-associated microsatel…