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Environmental effects on the detection of adaptation
Author(s) -
MAGALHÃES S.,
BLANCHET E.,
EGAS M.,
OLIVIERI I.
Publication year - 2011
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.1420-9101.2011.02388.x
Subject(s) - biology , adaptation (eye) , selection (genetic algorithm) , trait , local adaptation , evolutionary biology , natural selection , confounding , ecology , statistics , machine learning , population , demography , mathematics , neuroscience , sociology , computer science , programming language
Detecting adaptation involves comparing the performance of populations evolving in different environments. This detection may be confounded by effects due to the environment experienced by organisms prior to the test. We tested whether such confounding effects occur, using spider‐mite selection lines on two novel hosts and one ancestral host, after 15 generations of selection. Mites were either sampled directly from the selection lines or subjected to a common juvenile or to a common maternal environment, mimicking the most frequent environmental manipulations. These environments strongly affected all life‐history traits. Moreover, the detection of adaptation and correlated responses on the ancestral host was inconsistent among environments in almost 20% of the cases. Indeed, we did not detect responses unambiguously for any life‐history trait. This inconsistency was due to differential environmental effects on lines from different selection regimes. Therefore, the detection of adaptation requires a careful control of these environmental effects.