Evolutionary aspects of population structure for molecular and quantitative traits in the freshwater snail Radix balthica.

Detecting the action of selection in natural populations can be achieved using the QST-FST comparison that relies on the estimation of FST with neutral markers, and QST using quantitative traits potentially under selection. QST higher than FST suggests the action of directional selection and thus potential local adaptation. In this article, we apply the QST-FST comparison to four populations of the hermaphroditic freshwater snail Radix balthica located in a floodplain habitat. In contrast to most studies published so far, we did not detect evidence of directional selection for local optima for any of the traits we measured: QST calculated using three different methods was never higher than FST. A strong inbreeding depression was also detected, indicating that outcrossing is probably predominant over selfing in the studied populations. Our results suggest that in this floodplain habitat, local adaptation of R. balthica populations may be hindered by genetic drift, and possibly altered by uneven gene flow linked to flood frequency

The Effect of Diet Quality and Wing Morph on Male and Female Reproductive Investment in a Nuptial Feeding Ground Cricket

A common approach in the study of life-history trade-off evolution is to manipulate the nutrient content of diets during the life of an individual in order observe how the acquisition of resources influences the relationship between reproduction, lifespan and other life-history parameters such as dispersal. Here, we manipulate the quality of diet that replicate laboratory populations received as a thorough test of how diet quality influences the life-history trade-offs associated with reproductive investment in a nuptial feeding Australian ground cricket (Pteronemobius sp.). In this species, both males and females make significant contributions to the production of offspring, as males provide a nuptial gift by allowing females to chew on a modified tibial spur during copulation and feed directing on their haemolymph. Individuals also have two distinct wing morphs, a short-winged flightless morph and a long-winged morph that has the ability to disperse. By manipulating the quality of diet over seven generations, we found that the reproductive investment of males and females were affected differently by the diet quality treatment and wing morph of the individual. We discuss the broader implications of these findings including the differences in how males and females balance current and future reproductive effort in nuptial feeding insects, the changing nature of sexual selection when diets vary, and how the life-history trade-offs associated with the ability to disperse are expected to differ among populations

Combining modeling tools to identify conservation priority areas: A case study of the last large-bodied avian frugivore in the Atlantic Forest

Applicability of modeling tools to tackle conservation problems is key for conservation planning. However, modeling papers regarding real-world conservation issues are scarce. Here, we combined two modeling tools to identify priority areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, focusing on the last large-bodied frugivorous bird in the region, the red-billed curassow (Crax blumenbachii). We used population viability analysis (PVA) to determine (1) the minimum viable population size under different hunting scenarios; and (2) the minimum critical forest patch size required to maintain viable populations. We used ecological niche modeling (ENM) to identify remnants that retain suitable environmental conditions to ensure the long-term persistence of this species. We overlapped the outputs from PVA and ENM models to identify priority areas for curassows. Under our best-case scenario, 56 individuals would suffice to maintain a viable population and 71 forest patches located within the species' known range are above the critical size of 3141 ha. In the worst-case scenario, at least 138 individuals would be required to maintain a viable population in forest patches larger than 9500 ha, corresponding to only 20 Atlantic Forest fragments within the species range. Among these, 17 presented median habitat suitability values higher than 0.70, eight of which were selected as priority areas for law enforcement and nine as priority areas for reintroduction. We encourage conservation biologists and land managers to combine modeling tools which can be guided by our conservation planning framework. This approach is promising to inform long-term conservation planning of a flagship species and its entire ecosystem

The Effect of Plant Inbreeding and Stoichiometry on Interactions with Herbivores in Nature: Echinacea angustifolia and Its Specialist Aphid

Fragmentation of once widespread communities may alter interspecific interactions by changing genetic composition of interacting populations as well as their abundances and spatial distributions. In a long-term study of a fragmented population of Echinacea angustifolia, a perennial plant native to the North American prairie, we investigated influences on its interaction with a specialist aphid and tending ants. We grew plant progeny of sib-matings (I), and of random pairings within (W) and between (B) seven remnants in a common field within 8 km of the source remnants. During the fifth growing season, we determined each plant's burden of aphids and ants, as well as its size and foliar elemental composition (C, N, P). We also assayed composition (C, N) of aphids and ants. Early in the season, progeny from genotypic classes B and I were twice as likely to harbor aphids, and in greater abundance, than genotypic class W; aphid loads were inversely related to foliar concentration of P and positively related to leaf N and plant size. At the end of the season, aphid loads were indistinguishable among genotypic classes. Ant abundance tracked aphid abundance throughout the season but showed no direct relationship with plant traits. Through its potential to alter the genotypic composition of remnant populations of Echinacea, fragmentation can increase Echinacea's susceptibility to herbivory by its specialist aphid and, in turn, perturb the abundance and distribution of aphids

Microsatellite Support for Active Inbreeding in a Cichlid Fish

In wild animal populations, the degree of inbreeding differs between species and within species between populations. Because mating with kin often results in inbreeding depression, observed inbreeding is usually regarded to be caused by limited outbreeding opportunities due to demographic factors like small population size or population substructuring. However, theory predicts inclusive benefits from mating with kin, and thus part of the observed variation in inbreeding might be due to active inbreeding preferences. Although some recent studies indeed report kin mating preferences, the evidence is still highly ambiguous. Here, we investigate inbreeding in a natural population of the West African cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus which showed clear kin mating preferences in standardized laboratory experiments but no inbreeding depression. The presented microsatellite analysis reveals that the natural population has, in comparison to two reference populations, a reduced allelic diversity (A = 3) resulting in a low heterozygosity (Ho = 0.167) pointing to a highly inbred population. Furthermore, we found a significant heterozygote deficit not only at population (Fis = 0.116) but also at subpopulation level (Fis = 0.081) suggesting that inbreeding is not only a by-product of population substructuring but possibly a consequence of behavioral kin preferences

The genome-wide dynamics of purging during selfing in maize

Self-fertilization (also known as selfing) is an important reproductive strategy in plants and a widely applied tool for plant genetics and plant breeding. Selfing can lead to inbreeding depression by uncovering recessive deleterious variants, unless these variants are purged by selection. Here we investigated the dynamics of purging in a set of eleven maize lines that were selfed for six generations. We show that heterozygous, putatively deleterious single nucleotide polymorphisms are preferentially lost from the genome during selfing. Deleterious single nucleotide polymorphisms were lost more rapidly in regions of high recombination, presumably because recombination increases the efficacy of selection by uncoupling linked variants. Overall, heterozygosity decreased more slowly than expected, by an estimated 35% to 40% per generation instead of the expected 50%, perhaps reflecting pervasive associative overdominance. Finally, three lines exhibited marked decreases in genome size due to the purging of transposable elements. Genome loss was more likely to occur for lineages that began with larger genomes with more transposable elements and chromosomal knobs. These three lines purged an average of 398 Mb from their genomes, an amount equivalent to three Arabidopsis thaliana genomes per lineage, in only a few generations