Power and Evolutionary Fitness of Teleosts

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Ware
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Vital Functions ◽  
Surplus Power

The use of optimization arguments in evolutionary biology has been criticized because the methodology requires an assumption about what is being maximized by natural selection. As optimality arguments are often a priori and always speculative, the critics point out that there is no theoretical basis for any maximization principles in biology. They contend that only empirical work can establish if there are some properties of species that are generally maximized by natural selection. I accept this standard for evaluation, and argue that the concept of surplus power, which provides a physiological basis for optimal foraging and life history theory, is related to fitness. Evidence in the form of specific morphological and behavioral traits in teleost fishes is presented to demonstrate that natural selection has increased surplus power. Life history theory is concerned with how power is allocated by organisms to various vital functions; therefore, the specific problem of stock and recruitment in fisheries can be treated as a special application of life history theory. Some implications about the dynamics and possible survival value of different reproductive strategies exhibited by teleosts are discussed.Key words: surplus power, evolutionary biology, optimal foraging, life history theory, fitness

scholarly journals Genome size correlates with reproductive fitness in seed beetles

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1815) ◽  
pp. 20151421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
Ahmed Sayadi ◽  
Elina Immonen ◽  
Cosima Hotzy ◽  
Daniel Rankin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Genome Size ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Reproductive Fitness ◽  
Correlated Evolution ◽  
Seed Beetles

The ultimate cause of genome size (GS) evolution in eukaryotes remains a major and unresolved puzzle in evolutionary biology. Large-scale comparative studies have failed to find consistent correlations between GS and organismal properties, resulting in the ‘ C -value paradox’. Current hypotheses for the evolution of GS are based either on the balance between mutational events and drift or on natural selection acting upon standing genetic variation in GS. It is, however, currently very difficult to evaluate the role of selection because within-species studies that relate variation in life-history traits to variation in GS are very rare. Here, we report phylogenetic comparative analyses of GS evolution in seed beetles at two distinct taxonomic scales, which combines replicated estimation of GS with experimental assays of life-history traits and reproductive fitness. GS showed rapid and bidirectional evolution across species, but did not show correlated evolution with any of several indices of the relative importance of genetic drift. Within a single species, GS varied by 4–5% across populations and showed positive correlated evolution with independent estimates of male and female reproductive fitness. Collectively, the phylogenetic pattern of GS diversification across and within species in conjunction with the pattern of correlated evolution between GS and fitness provide novel support for the tenet that natural selection plays a key role in shaping GS evolution.

The unified crime theory and the social correlates of crime and violence: problems and solutions

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-301
Author(s):  
Nicholas Kavish ◽  
Brian Boutwell
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Criminal Behavior ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Correlates ◽  
The Social ◽  
Growing Body

Purpose Criminology has produced more than a century of informative research on the social correlates of criminal behavior. Recently, a growing body of theoretical and empirical work has begun to apply evolutionary principles, particularly from life history theory (LHT), to the study of crime. As this body of research continues to grow, it is important that work in this area synthesizes evolutionary principles with the decades of sociological research on the correlates of crime. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The current paper reviews the brief history of research applying life history concepts to criminology, providing an overview of the underlying framework, exploring examples of empirically testable and tested hypotheses that have been derived from the theory, discussing cautions and criticisms of life history research, and discussing how this area of research can be further integrated with existing theory. Findings A growing body of research has, with relative consistency, associated indicators of a faster life history strategy with aggression and violence in humans and across the animal kingdom. Research into these associations is still vulnerable to genetic confounding and more research with genetically sensitive designs is needed. The use of hypotheses informed by evolutionary insight and tested with genetically sensitive designs provides the best option for understanding how environmental factors can have an impact on violent and criminal behavior. Originality/value The current paper provides an updated review of the growing application of LHT to the study of human behavior and acknowledges criticisms and areas of concern that need to be considered when forming hypotheses for research.

scholarly journals Ecological determinants of life-history evolution

1991 ◽  
Vol 332 (1262) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Life History ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Experimental System ◽  
Food Utilization ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Laboratory Populations ◽  
Very High

Density-dependent natural selection has been studied, empirically with laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster . Populations kept at very high and low population density have become differentiated with respect to important fitness-related traits. There is now some understanding of the behavioural and physiological basis of these differences. These studies have identified larval competitive ability and efficiency of food utilization as traits that are negatively correlated with respect to effects on fitness. Theory that illuminates and motivates additional research with this experimental system has been lacking. Current research has focused on models that incorporate many details of Drosophila ecology in laboratory environments.

scholarly journals How can we estimate natural selection on endocrine traits? Lessons from evolutionary biology

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1843) ◽  
pp. 20161887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Bonier ◽  
Paul R. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
System Evolution ◽  
Fitness Consequences

An evolutionary perspective can enrich almost any endeavour in biology, providing a deeper understanding of the variation we see in nature. To this end, evolutionary endocrinologists seek to describe the fitness consequences of variation in endocrine traits. Much of the recent work in our field, however, follows a flawed approach to the study of how selection shapes endocrine traits. Briefly, this approach relies on among-individual correlations between endocrine phenotypes (often circulating hormone levels) and fitness metrics to estimate selection on those endocrine traits. Adaptive plasticity in both endocrine and fitness-related traits can drive these correlations, generating patterns that do not accurately reflect natural selection. We illustrate why this approach to studying selection on endocrine traits is problematic, referring to work from evolutionary biologists who, decades ago, described this problem as it relates to a variety of other plastic traits. We extend these arguments to evolutionary endocrinology, where the likelihood that this flaw generates bias in estimates of selection is unusually high due to the exceptional responsiveness of hormones to environmental conditions, and their function to induce adaptive life-history responses to environmental variation. We end with a review of productive approaches for investigating the fitness consequences of variation in endocrine traits that we expect will generate exciting advances in our understanding of endocrine system evolution.

scholarly journals Evolution of dispersal can rescue populations from expansion load

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Peischl ◽  
Kimberly J. Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Genetic Drift ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Spatial Sorting ◽  
Mean Fitness ◽  
Expansion Load ◽  
Probability Of Fixation

AbstractUnderstanding the causes and consequences of range expansions or range shifts has a long history in evolutionary biology. Recent theoretical, experimental, and empirical work has identified two particularly interesting phenomena in the context of species range expansions: (i) gene surfing and the relaxation of natural selection, and (ii) spatial sorting. The former can lead to an accumulation of deleterious mutations at range edges, causing an expansion load and slowing down expansion. The latter can create gradients in dispersal-related traits along the expansion axis and cause an acceleration of expansion. We present a theoretical framework that treats spatial sorting and gene surfing as spatial versions of natural selection and genetic drift, respectively. This model allows us to study analytically how gene surfing and spatial sorting interact, and to derive the probability of fixation of pleiotropic mutations at the expansion front. We use our results to predict the co-evolution of mean fitness and dispersal rates, taking into account the effects of random genetic drift, natural selection and spatial sorting, as well as correlations between fitnessand dispersal-related traits. We identify a “rescue effect” of spatial sorting, where the evolution of higher dispersal rates at the leading edge rescues the population from incurring expansion load.

scholarly journals Drought frequency predicts life history strategies in Heliophila

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Grey Monroe ◽  
Brian Gill ◽  
Kathryn Turner ◽  
John K McKay
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Perennial Species ◽  
Drought Frequency ◽  
Occurrence Records

Explaining variation in life history strategies is a long-standing goal of evolutionary biology. For plants, annual and perennial life histories are thought to reflect adaptation to environments that differ in the frequency of stress events such as drought. Here we test this hypothesis in Heliophila (Brassicaceae), a diverse genus of flowering plants native to Africa, by integrating 34 years of satellite-based drought measurements with 2192 herbaria occurrence records. Consistent with predictions from classic life history theory, we find that perennial Heliophila species occur in environments where droughts are significantly less frequent compared to annuals. These associations are predictive while controlling for phylogeny, lending support to the hypothesis that drought related natural selection has influenced the distributions of these strategies. Additionally, the collection dates of annual and perennial species indicate that annuals escape drought prone seasons during the seed phase of their life cycle. Together, these findings provide empirical support for classic hypotheses about the drivers of life history strategy in plants - that perennials out compete annuals in environments with less frequent drought and that annuals are adapted to environments with more frequent drought by escaping drought prone seasons as seeds.

scholarly journals Life-history theory in psychology and evolutionary biology: one research programme or two?

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nettle ◽  
Willem E. Frankenhuis
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Theoretical Modelling ◽  
Divergent Evolution ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
The Core ◽  
Evolutionary Context ◽  
Cognition And Culture

The term ‘life-history theory’ (LHT) is increasingly often invoked in psychology, as a framework for integrating understanding of psychological traits into a broader evolutionary context. Although LHT as presented in psychology papers (LHT-P) is typically described as a straightforward extension of the theoretical principles from evolutionary biology that bear the same name (LHT-E), the two bodies of work are not well integrated. Here, through a close reading of recent papers, we argue that LHT-E and LHT-P are different research programmes in the Lakatosian sense. The core of LHT-E is built around ultimate evolutionary explanation, via explicit mathematical modelling, of how selection can drive divergent evolution of populations or species living under different demographies or ecologies. The core of LHT-P concerns measurement of covariation, across individuals, of multiple psychological traits; the proximate goals these serve; and their relation to childhood experience. Some of the links between LHT-E and LHT-P are false friends. For example, elements that are marginal in LHT-E are core commitments of LHT-P, and where explanatory principles are transferred from one to the other, nuance can be lost in transmission. The methodological rules for what grounds a prediction in theory are different in the two cases. Though there are major differences between LHT-E and LHT-P at present, there is much potential for greater integration in the future, through both theoretical modelling and further empirical research. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

Changeable Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-70
Author(s):  
David F. Bjorklund
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Human Functioning ◽  
The World ◽  
Important Evidence

Plasticity is an evolved feature of Homo sapiens and is greatest early in development. Plasticity permits children to adjust to diverse environments and still grow up to be productive members of their society. This can be seen from the variety of rearing environments found in cultures around the world, from the child-adoring hunter-gatherers to those that view children as drains on resources. Plasticity is not infinite, however, but declines with age. Natural selection has provided children with sensitivity to early environments and the plasticity to entrain their development in adaptive ways, as explained by life history theory. Recent advances have provided important evidence for the proximal causes of changes in behavior as a result of experience—epigenetics, how genes are expressed in different contexts. We can now begin to understand plasticity at the level of the gene, and this has implications for understanding all forms of human functioning.

scholarly journals Isoenzimas

2017 ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Nidia Pérez-Nasser ◽  
Daniel Piñero
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Life History ◽  
Molecular Markers ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Studies

This work presents a review of the use of enzymes as molecular markers for evolutionary studies, in particular population genetics. First, the methodology of starch electrophoresis is shown as a useful tool To detect variation within and among populations. Second, applications to evolutionary biology are presented. In plants these markers have been used for 1] to study mating systems, 2] do phylogenetics and taxonomy, 3] study natural selection components, 4] to correlate genetics and life history characters and 5] understand the origin and evolution of cultivated plants and their wild relatives

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