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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.
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Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
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Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
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JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
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Experimental reduction in interaction intensity strongly affects biotic selection.

Nina Sletvold1, Jon Ågren1

  • 1Plant Ecology and Evolution, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 D, SE-752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.

Ecology
|November 22, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Declining pollination intensity significantly increases biotic selection strength on plants. This highlights how changes in species interactions can drive evolutionary adaptation and diversification.

Keywords:
Gymnadenia conopseafloral evolutionnatural selectionopportunity for selectionplant-animal interactionspollen limitationpollinator-mediated selectionselection intensitytrait-fitness covariance

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Plant Sciences

Background:

  • Biotic interactions are crucial for understanding diversification and environmental change impacts.
  • Selection strength depends on interaction intensity and trait-fitness covariance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test if selection strength directly correlates with mean population interaction intensity.
  • To investigate how varying pollination intensity affects pollinator-mediated selection.

Main Methods:

  • Manipulated pollination intensity by excluding pollinators for different durations.
  • Quantified pollen limitation (PL) and the opportunity for selection.
  • Measured trait-fitness covariance and selection gradients for multiple plant traits.

Main Results:

  • Pollen limitation increased from 0 to 0.77, with a fivefold rise in the opportunity for selection.
  • Pollinator-mediated selection increased significantly for plant height (91%), corolla size (34%), and spur length (330%) under severe pollen limitation.
  • Trait-fitness covariance showed limited variation for most traits, supporting the prediction.

Conclusions:

  • Realized biotic selection can be predicted by mean population interaction intensity when trait-fitness covariance is stable.
  • Decreased pollination intensity strongly elevates selection on interacting plant traits, impacting evolutionary trajectories.