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DIRECTIONAL AND STABILIZING DENSITY‐DEPENDENT NATURAL SELECTION FOR PUPATION HEIGHT IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER
Author(s) -
Joshi Amitabh,
Mueller Laurence D.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1993.tb01208.x
Subject(s) - biology , pupa , drosophila melanogaster , larva , trait , directional selection , population density , natural selection , population , drosophila (subgenus) , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , insect , ecology , genetics , genetic variation , gene , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , programming language
Six populations of Drosophila melanogaster have been kept at extreme population densities, three high and three low, for 175 generations. Larvae from the high density populations pupate 50%‐100% higher than larvae from the low density populations. At high larval test densities there is both a directional and a stabilizing component to selection, with viabilities ranging from 0.14 to 0.992, depending on the choice of pupation site. The directional component is stronger on the populations which have evolved at low densities, while the stabilizing component is stronger on the populations which have evolved at high densities. There is no indication that the evolution of this trait, in response to density, has altered its phenotypic plasticity.