Search results for "adaptation"
showing 10 items of 1775 documents
Evolutionary genomics can improve prediction of species' responses to climate change
2020
Abstract Global climate change (GCC) increasingly threatens biodiversity through the loss of species, and the transformation of entire ecosystems. Many species are challenged by the pace of GCC because they might not be able to respond fast enough to changing biotic and abiotic conditions. Species can respond either by shifting their range, or by persisting in their local habitat. If populations persist, they can tolerate climatic changes through phenotypic plasticity, or genetically adapt to changing conditions depending on their genetic variability and census population size to allow for de novo mutations. Otherwise, populations will experience demographic collapses and species may go ext…
On the evolutionary stability of female infanticide
1997
Territoriality among female rodents may have evolved as an adaptation to intraspecific competition for resources or, alternatively, to defend pups against infanticide. In order to evaluate the latter, we analyse the conditions that allow an infanticidal strategy to invade a population of non-infanticidal females, and the circumstances under which infanticide may become an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). Our game theoretical analyses indicate that infanticide has to be associated with some direct (cannibalism) or indirect (reduced competition) resource benefits in order to invade a non-infanticidal population. We also expect that females will primarily kill litters of nearby neighbors,…
The role of local adaptation in the relationship between an endangered root hemiparasite Euphrasia rostkoviana, and its host, Agrostis capillaris
1999
We experimentally studied the role of local adaptation and the co-evolutionary relationship between an annual, endangered root hemiparasite Euphrasia rostkoviana and its main host Agrostis capillaris. According to our hypothesis, the existence of local adaptation in hemiparasites should be observable in better hemiparasite performance when attached to A. capillaris hosts originating from Euphrasia populations. After one month of growth, the height and the number of leaves of hemiparasites were not affected by the origin of their hosts. The differences in growth were due to between population effects. The situation remained constant after three months. Hemiparasite biomass was not affected b…
Can adaptation lead to extinction?
2005
Ever since J.B.S. Haldane proposed the idea, evolutionary biologists are aware that individual level adaptations do not necessarily lead to optimal population performance. A few deeply mathematical models, drawing from a diverse range of systems, even predict that individual selection can lead to the extinction of the whole population, a phenomenon which has become known as evolutionary suicide. Due to the complexity of both following adaptation and determining the exact cause of an extinction, evolutionary suicide has remained untested empirically. However, three recent empirical studies suggest that it may occur, and that suicide should be taken seriously as a potentially important evolut…
Population structure of a parasitic plant and its perennial host
2002
Characterization of host and parasite population genetic structure and estimation of gene flow among populations are essential for the understanding of parasite local adaptation and coevolutionary interactions between hosts and parasites. We examined two aspects of population structure in a parasitic plant, the greater dodder (Cuscuta europaea) and its host plant, the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), using allozyme data from 12 host and eight parasite populations. First, we examined whether hosts exposed to parasitism in the past contain higher levels of genetic variation. Second, we examined whether host and parasite populations differ in terms of population structure and if their populati…
Assessment of Organizational Trust: Preliminary Data for Romanian Adaptation of the Organizational Trust Inventory Short Form
2013
Abstract In the last years, trust became an important variable in regard to the well-being of organizations. In Romania, it was included in studies as a variable but there are few instruments that measure organizational trust. Therefore I identify a necessity for developing instruments useful in assessing and promoting any organizational adjustments. This paper presents the preliminary data obtained in the process of adaptation of OTI for the Romanian population. In doing so, we followed the guidelines of ITC. Using a sample of 108 employees the psychometric results show that OTI-RO has a high level of internal consistency reliability (a = 0.94) and it can be used exclusive for equivalent p…
Larval Arrest in Development of Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)
1986
Arrested larval development (in the last larval instar) of part of the total larval population has been detected in moderately crowded situations (40 larvae in 2 g food) in Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) cultures This phenomenon is the same found previously in highly crowded cultures of Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) and other related species. The arrest may be viewed as a mechanism of physiological adaptation of organisms to competitive situations.
A population genetics view of animal domestication
2012
The fundamental shift associated with the domestication of plants and animals allowed for a dramatic increase in human population sizes and the emergence of modern society. Despite its importance and the decades of research devoted to studying it, questions regarding the origins and processes of domestication remain. Here, we review recent theoretical advances and present a perspective that underscores the crucial role that population admixture has played in influencing the genomes of domestic animals over the past 10000 years. We then discuss novel approaches to generating and analysing genetic data, emphasising the importance of an explicit hypothesis-testing approach for the inference of…
Selection on life-history traits and genetic population divergence in rotifers
2009
A combination of founder effects and local adaptation – the Monopolization hypothesis – has been proposed to reconcile the strong population differentiation of zooplankton dwelling in ponds and lakes and their high dispersal abilities. The role genetic drift plays in genetic differentiation of zooplankton is well documented, but the impact of natural selection has received less attention. Here, we compare differentiation in neutral genetic markers (FST) and in quantitative traits (QST) in six natural populations of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis to assess the importance of natural selection in explaining genetic differentiation of life-history traits. Five life-history traits were measur…
Limitations of population models in predicting climate change effects : a simulation study of sociable weavers in southern Africa
2008
Current approaches for predicting climate change effects on populations comprise static models based on the geographical distribution of species, and dynamic population models based on the relationship between population processes and the recent variation in climate. Population models have the inherent advantage of considering a species' response to climate as resulting from distinct mechanisms. However, they may have the disadvantage of considering only short-term processes as they occur under the current climate, disregarding slowly adapting mechanisms. It would be important, however, to know whether slowly adapting processes occur, and whether they will respond to climate change. A way o…