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Limits to natural selection
Author(s) -
Barton Nick,
Partridge Linda
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/1521-1878(200012)22:12<1075::aid-bies5>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - evolvability , natural selection , adaptation (eye) , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , variation (astronomy) , adaptive evolution , biology , population genetics , limit (mathematics) , population , computer science , genetics , artificial intelligence , demography , mathematics , sociology , gene , mathematical analysis , physics , neuroscience , astrophysics
We review the various factors that limit adaptation by natural selection. Recent discussion of constraints on selection and, conversely, of the factors that enhance “evolvability”, have concentrated on the kinds of variation that can be produced. Here, we emphasise that adaptation depends on how the various evolutionary processes shape variation in populations. We survey the limits that population genetics places on adaptive evolution, and discuss the relationship between disparate literatures. BioEssays 22:1075–1084, 2000. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.