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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Boldness, Aggression, and Shoaling Assays for Zebrafish Behavioral Syndromes
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How is adaptive potential distributed within species ranges?

Lillie K Pennington1, Rachel A Slatyer2,3, Dannise V Ruiz-Ramos4,5

  • 1Environmental Systems Graduate Group, University of California, Merced, California, 95343.

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|June 24, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Quantitative genetic variation (QGV) is crucial for species adaptation. This study found that QGV may decline from geographic centers but increase toward niche edges, impacting adaptive potential.

Keywords:
Evolvabilitygenetic variationheritabilityquantitative genetic variationspecies range limits

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Quantitative genetics
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Quantitative genetic variation (QGV) is vital for species' adaptive potential.
  • Reduced QGV at range edges may hinder species expansion and adaptation to environmental change.
  • The relationship between QGV and range position, particularly in central populations, remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test for a general relationship between QGV and range position using a meta-analytic approach.
  • To investigate how geographic and climatic distances from range centers influence QGV.
  • To synthesize existing data on QGV across species and identify research gaps.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted a meta-analysis of 35 studies encompassing nearly 1000 QGV estimates from 34 species.
  • Included measures of broad-sense heritability, narrow-sense heritability, and evolvability.
  • Analyzed QGV in relation to geographic and climatic distances from range centers.

Main Results:

  • Evidence suggests QGV declines from geographic range centers.
  • QGV appears to increase toward climatic niche edges.
  • Geographic and climatic distances from range centers were found to be uncorrelated.
  • The observed relationships varied depending on the focal trait and estimation method.

Conclusions:

  • QGV patterns relative to range position are complex and trait-dependent.
  • Further research is needed to compare QGV in central versus marginal populations within species.
  • Understanding QGV dynamics is critical for predicting species' adaptive potential in response to global change.