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Modelling the genetics and demography of step cline formation: gastropod populations preyed on by experimentally introduced crabs
Author(s) -
BOULDING E. G.,
HAY T.,
HOLST M.,
KAMEL S.,
PAKES D.,
TIE A. D.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01369.x
Subject(s) - cline (biology) , biology , predation , ecology , intertidal zone , population , rocky shore , selection (genetic algorithm) , snail , predator , zoology , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
Whether a prey population goes extinct or adapts in response to an invading predator may depend on the number of contiguous populations that experience increased predation. We created invaded snail populations by building shelters for predatory shore crabs on a rocky intertidal bench. The crabs preyed selectively on thin‐shelled snails tethered next to the shelters but did not prey on those more than 2 m away. This caused strong directional selection for increased shell thickness in populations close to the shelters but did not change selection in those farther away. The field experiment was used to parameterize a new individual‐based quantitative genetic model that included demography. In the model a detectable step cline in shell thickness evolved rapidly even though the region of increased predation was shorter than Slatkin's characteristic length . The cline's step size in the model was similar to that measured in the field 10 years after the experiment began.