Differential fertility as a major mode of selection

Population genetic models have focused Primarily on the differential survival of genotypes as the vehicle through which selection can lead to evolutionary change. A growing body of diverse evidence suggests that differential fertility is an equally important mode of selective action. Laboratory studies with Drosophila and field studies in natural populations of plants and animals have provided direct demonstrations. Experimental ecology and reproductive biology have offered indirect but compelling evidence for the importance of differential fertility. Selection through differential fertility is not always interchangeable with selection through differential survival: the genetic dynamics can be far more complicated and can lead to unpredictable results when driven by fertility differences. The study of fertility selection in natural populations poses several problems: selection differentials can be difficult to estimate; they are likely to be very sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, and when generations overlap the fertility differential cannot be estimated correctly without demographic data. Describing the role of differential fertility in natural populations represents an emerging challenge for theoreticians and empiricists alike.