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Fitness measures in selection analyses: sensitivity to the overall number of offspring produced in a lifetime
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 14:38 authored by H L Dugdale, Pierre NouvelletPierre Nouvellet, L C Pope, T Burke, D W MacdonaldAge at first (a) and last (?) breeding are important life-history traits; however, the direction and strength of selection detected on traits may vary depending on the fitness measure used. We provide the first estimates of lifetime breeding success (LBS) and ?ind (the population growth rate of an individual) of European badgers Meles meles, by genotyping 915 individuals, sampled over 18 years, for 22 microsatellites. Males are slightly larger than females, and the opportunity for selection was slightly greater for males, as predicted. ?ind and LBS both performed well in predicting the number of grand-offspring, and both detected selection for a late ?, until the age of eight. Differential selection (S'a) for an early a, however, was only detected using LBS, not with ?ind. In declining populations (?ind < 1) selection favours reproduction later in life, whereas early reproduction is selected in increasing populations (?ind > 1). As 41% of badgers were assigned only one offspring (?ind < 1), whereas 40% were assigned more than two (?ind > 1), this cancelled out S'a measured by ?ind.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Journal of Evolutionary BiologyISSN
1010061XPublisher
WileyExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
23Page range
282-292Department affiliated with
- Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes